Witch
by yume girl 91
Summary: For centuries people have feared them...those whom they call Witches. For the team of Witch hunters,SCG-Japan, hunting them is only part of the problem. But now they're getting a new member...will she aid them or be their downfall? IchiRuki Au CH.12!
1. Chapter 1 Arrival

The night was full of sounds.

Footsteps swift in their pursuit, metal clicking, as guns are drawn, static from the communicator earpieces crackle though nobody flinches; they are used it. Just one more thing familiar in the nights of hunting; where the only thing protecting you from certain death at the hands of the abominations called witches, is the swinging glass vial of clear ice blue fluid hanging around your neck.

"Kurosaki, come in."

The smooth efficient voice of the twenty-something year old leader broke through the static, "I'm here. Now where is _he_, Hanataro?"

In a dusky office in the top floor of a brick building, a skinny teenage boy hunched over a computer desk. His unevenly cut black hair hung down into his eyes, the bright glow of the Lcd screen before him cast an eerie glow to his puppy-dog features. "From your right…down the alleyway," he paused. The screen changed as the night-vision surveillance camera swiveled, following the shady figure of a man walking. When the minuscule lens focused in on his face, the man suddenly smirked and began running.

"Damn! He's caught onto us…to the right. No wait he's leaving the range of the cameras—"

A soft feminine voice interrupted, "I see him, Hanataro. He passed by me just now."

"Miss Rangiku! Don't pursue—" Hanataro frowned at the computer watching as a tall buxom woman strode by, her black coat flapping. It wouldn't be any use to recall her back; once Rangiku Matsumoto-clairvoyant and unofficial second in command set her sights upon something nothing and nobody could dissuade her otherwise.

Distantly Rangiku's black clad figure disappeared, her heels clicked faintly then came to an abrupt stop. Hanataro thought he heard the click of a safety go off but from the camera's vantage point on top of a light post at the corner only darkness could be seen. Then wind rushed, a groan and a thud resounded and…after a moment Rangiku tottered beneath the light post.

"The orbo's not working! He got away…damn it." She held her hand to her stomach, "got me good, the bastard." She moved her hand away to reveal a darkening wet spot. Hanataro caught his breath, "see that, Kurosaki? Now shouldn't we call it off—?"

"No." Came the young man stepping forward out of the shadows. His orange hair stuck up in spikes, his brown eyes gleamed with hidden anger though his expression and voice were calm, "Rangiku, stay where you are. Abarai and Hinamori follow me."

"Roger." Said the two hunters in unison.

Rangiku scowled, "Wait! I can—" she took a few steps and then stopped and she clenched her fists. Frustration plain on her face mixed with pain. She breathed in deeply for a minute or two, creases smoothing out; Kurosaki waited. "Let me go with you. It's not that bad--" she pleaded, her breaths hitched and a spasm of pain rocked her body.

"Miss Rangiku, please do as Kurosaki-san says. You're in no condition to help them out right now!" said Hanataro through the earpiece. Rangiku sighed; she knew they were right but if she didn't push herself… "Ichigo…please I have to do this," she raised her head, her gray eyes looking hopefully at the still statue of the man before her. "I have to avenge him! Gin…"

"Rangiku!" Kurosaki suddenly snapped. "You have to stay behind. Understand?" his voice dropped a few octaves, "Ichimaru would have understood. Do you think he'd want you to risk your life over something as trivial as this?" Rangiku lowered her eyes to the ground; her shoulders began to shake; a broad gloved hand reached out and patted her arm firmly.

"No tears. Okay?" Kurosaki leaned in, for once his scowl was relaxed and his eyes reflected warmth rather than sardonic mistrust. "I'll take care of this one. Just leave it to us. You go on ahead to Raven's 13." He dismissed her with one last faint smile. Rangiku watched him walk away, his face she noticed hardened, losing that brief smile. She shook her head, _would that he ever be truly happy_? She doubted it. Rangiku went down the block to where a gray sedan was parked, she slid behind the drivers seat and started it up. In the rearview mirror and sans the static from the communicator, two voices came through.

"Are you what they call witch hunters?" this one was unfamiliar save for the few seconds she'd heard it when he chanted the words to activate his craft. The other was Kurosaki's dry and bored as usual, "probably."

Two gunshots rang out and Rangiku smiled in the mirror.

_~~~*~~~_

The young woman stepped onto the curb cautiously; the skirt of her long black dress fell modestly into place as she straightened up. From inside the cab, the driver asked curiously, "this the place?" The girl turned, luggage in hand, "yes, thank you." She wasn't very tall indeed her height was maybe around 5'2. It possibly could have been 5'0 because of the thick heels of the gray ankle boots she had on. Her face was pale and thin but not unattractively so, her eyes were large and a peculiar shade of violet-blue not often found in Japan.

She was pretty but not conventionally so, more like a certain quiet beauty. Delicate yet perhaps not in the way she walked determinedly up to the wrought iron gates and rang the buzzer. The cab drove off, responding to other important calls. In time a gruff male voice came through the tiny speaker box, "yes? What business do you have in Raven's 13?"

"Um…my name is Rukia Kuchiki. I'm here about—"

"How many times do I have to tell you, Yasutora? About answering the nosy people who come to our gates?!" a new voice joined in. Yasutora seemingly hesitated, "but the girl…"

"No buts!"

Fumbling and static came through and then, "I'm sorry but we must ask you to leave. Raven's 13 is a privately owned building and we do not appreciate solicitors wandering about!"

"But I'm not a—" Rukia frowned as the box crackled and then communication was cut off. She tapped the speaker once more to make sure. Nothing. Her eyes went up the brick building's façade; a window up at the very top was open. A hand appeared and slid it shut suddenly then a man's face looked out. He locked eyes with her so far below; his features she couldn't see much of and raised her hand to shield her eyes from the muted sun's glare.

She swore he scowled.

She blinked and then he was gone. Away from the window, perhaps this was Kurosaki? The cold, respectable leader of the witch hunting team SCG-J? She thought maybe, reports about him had filtered into HQ's trainee school about his hard-line approach and absolute hatred of craft users; a polite term coined by HQ for those who are in reality _Witches_.

Witches who are employed by Solomon HQ for the sole purpose of eradicating fellow witches by virtue of their powers. Like her; she was a craft user sent to replace Senna Kano, a member of the team who'd been killed in the line of duty three months before. Rukia knew Senna had been Kurosaki's partner, those up at HQ had said this much whether or not they had gotten along well was up for speculation. _He certainly hadn't seemed very upset over her death_.

Rukia sighed; just standing there wasn't going to gain her admittance to the building beyond. Recalling now, she remembered seeing a small restaurant down the road…_Urahara's cafe_ she thought. Maybe she should go kill some time there and maybe figure out something to do about her current predicament…

_~~~*~~~_

Inside the office on the top floor, raised voices rattled the glass panes. "Well it's not my fault Abarai is so incompetent! Try having him drive around…speed demon he is!" Rangiku stood by the coffee maker; in one manicured hand she held a white cup. Standing several feet away and scowling intensely was Toshiro Hitsugaya, chief and all around tightwad for the office budget especially for the gas their vehicles seemed to be _consuming_ at an _alarming rate_.

"I've already had to apologize to administrator Aizen for us going over budget twice this month! How many times do—" Hitsugaya paused after noticing the man who walked quietly in. "Oh, administrator, pardon me!" Hitsugaya turned away from Rangiku and immediately went after Aizen. "It's Matsumoto's fault! She wasted three of the bullets sent to us from the factory _and_ drives around the car like there's no tomorrow! For the cases she says, but I know it's to sneak off and go shopping!"

Rangiku sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes heavenward. Beneath her yellow scoop-necked blouse was wrapped a layer of bandages. Aizen after listening to Hitsugaya's tirade simply smiled, "it's okay, Toshiro-kun." He patted the top of Hitsugaya's head much like you would a child's. The brown-haired man adjusted his glasses and beamed Rangiku's way. "I'll simply place another order and ask them to step up orbo production."

When he went into the side door leading to his private office, Hitsugaya had followed him; the collective hunters sighed in relief. The collective being Rangiku, Momo Hinamori and Hanataro Yamada, Renji still hadn't made an appearance and as Rangiku moved to the other side of the wide desks neither had their leader.

"Hey, anybody seen Kurosaki?"

Momo glanced up and gratefully took the steaming mug of coffee from Rangiku, "um I think he had said something about heading over to Urahara's. You know he goes there a lot." Rangiku frowned and glanced over to the wide windows, "maybe. Today HQ was supposed to send us a new hunter. A replacement for Senna…though I doubt he'll treat _him_ any better."

"A craft user by the stats they sent us," Hanataro piped up. "And by the way it's a _she_." He added after Rangiku and Momo looked over at him.

"Another girl?"

_~~~*~~~_

Rukia was walking down the narrow corridor when she first saw _him_. Orange hair, unsmiling mouth, brown eyes narrowed in suspicion and annoyance. His lean frame was clothed in black from head-to-toe, black pants, black vest and open black trench. She ducked into a niche at the corridor's middle to let him pass.

They locked gazes, his head turning slightly her way. His eyes retained the frozen emotionless look in them; Rukia stepped into the hallway after he'd gone by, staring at his back until the main door closed with a clang then she walked into the bar area. A dozen tiny tables were grouped about in the large room; a wide counter ran along the back wall where a shaggy blond man with a smiling face and hooded eyes greeted her.

"Good afternoon, young lady. What may I get you? I am the proprietor Kisuke Urahara, please take a seat," he waved a hand casually toward the tables near the bay windows. Rukia smiled faintly and sat down, her eyes wandered to the windows and the view they afforded; secretly she wondered if she might catch a glimpse of the _orange-haired man_ as he went by.

"Your espresso, miss?" Kisuke returned a little while later, bearing a small tray with a teeny white mug, its fragrant full-bodied smell tingling her senses. "Thank you," Rukia said demurely as he set the cup down in front of her. She stirred the dark liquid with a small spoon. "Isn't it awfully bitter?" Kisuke asked curiously. Rukia took a quick sip before answering, "not really. I've gotten used to it…where I lived before we had it all the time instead of tea."

"Ah…Italy?"

"Yes! How did you know?"

"Just a lucky guess is all. I'm known for that around here," Kisuke winked a shadowy blue eye at her.

_~~~*~~~_

"Ah here's our qua defacto leader himself," Rangiku trailed off, "and he's late!" she crowed happily after taking a quick glance at her wristwatch. Kurosaki raised an eyebrow at her, "and you're one to talk, Rangiku? Remember, he who is without sin may cast the first stone."

"Oh so now you read the bible? And I believe the quote should be, the pot calling the kettle black. Right, Hinamori? Abarai?" Rangiku waited for her supporters to agree but they were grouped over Hanataro's shoulder staring intently at the Lcd screen as text flashed across it.

"What is it? New orders?" immediately serious Rangiku went over and joined them. Kurosaki sighed and stood on the side, his coat draped neatly over his arm. "Not new orders. Changes to an existing order," Hanataro clarified, his round eyes roved hurriedly over the Japanese characters. His fingers tapped the keys and a separate window popped up in the corner, "last night's was Aoshi Shimabara. We caught him…but apparently he had a partner. Sayu Kudo. A witch with similar powers."

"Meaning?" Rangiku muttered.

"We have priority to capture her as soon as possible," Kurosaki said after peering at the screen where Hanataro pointed. Momo crossed her arms and her pretty face darkened, "let's just hope she's not as strong as Aoshi…Rangiku. Think you can go with us?"

The three hunters looked her way expectantly. Rangiku lowered her eyes and tugged at the edge of her blouse, "I don't know…I feel alright but once in a while I get a twinge here and there." She shrugged, "I'll go. Even if I can't do much it's better than just you three by yourselves. Especially considering…" she hesitated, "Abarai's rookie tendencies!"

"I am not a rookie! Matsumoto!" aforementioned red head squawked angrily.

Everybody chuckled.

_~~~*~~~_

She wasn't sure why she went there. Her heart pounded and her mouth felt dry despite the coffee and tea, Urahara had plied on her. Rukia slowly pushed the metal sheet up; it was dark inside the warehouse. She peered in and seeing nothing was about to give up and leave…then a sound like a groan and a muffled curse reached her ears.

She ducked beneath the sliding metal frame door and took a few cautious steps forward from the vague light coming from outside she discerned a wide circle made of sand on the cement floor. Kneeling down beside it, her eyes traced the familiar symbols of Thurisaz conjoined by Mercury's wheel…the craft of binding!

Another thud this time followed by a crash and then someone laughed. Low and chillingly…

_~~~*~~~_

Rangiku stayed near the eastern entrance, her gun drawn and de-pressurized. While Momo went in with Renji, the two hunters exchanged wary glances at the dubious location their orders had led them to. Shelves that were up to the ceiling created a maze of tiny enclosures and dark spaces. Kurosaki went in alone as per custom though Rangiku remarked before they separated that having the replacement hunter with them would have been _nice_.

To this Kurosaki merely snorted, as if _he_ needed back up. Hah!

Momo put in the code given to them by Hanataro, the doors opened with a subtle snap. She withdrew her gun, a smaller version of Rangiku's, in its oval shape and tiny bullet chamber. Renji did the same, pulling his out of a thigh holster. He clicked the safety off and pointed it straight ahead while walking in.

"You go on," Momo whispered, her eyes sweeping the right. Renji nodded and stalked around the front of the first row of shelves. At the end he peered out, looking down another row, seeing nothing he waved quickly to Momo. As she went toward him, her flat heels crunched something on the floor. She paused and looking closely at it she exclaimed, "sand?"

Kurosaki heard her through the earpiece, "a craft! Be careful!"

Renji drew back away from the shelves, the light from their combined flashlights bounced in crazy arks, Momo backed up against him. He could feel her trembling; slowly she raised her flashlight and shone it in the farther corner…a woman in a white dress grinned manically at them.

"Shit." Renji muttered.

A whooshing wind slammed into them and Momo was slammed to the ground. Her dark hair fell in her face, a groan escaped her lips. The sand beneath her shoes glinted and she was swept backward into the shelf repeatedly. "Momo!" Renji yelled, he leveled the gun and fired but the bullet went awry and exploded into tiny glass fragments.

Footsteps pounded on the other side of the shelves, Kurosaki came into sight, panting but his aim was sure. The gun was suddenly yanked from him and thrown away in a wide ark. An invisible force slammed into his chest making him stagger, the crystalline liquid sizzled in its vial, glowing an electric blue. Kurosaki stood his ground as the orbo began negating the witch's craft. His hand crept inside his coat where a tiny revolver was kept for times such as these.

Then…before he knew it, the orbo pendant had shattered and his back slammed with enough force so that his spine was jolted, to the hard floor. "Kurosaki! Damn it!" Renji was pinned to the opposite wall, his body rigid with the binding spell. Momo opened her eyes; Kurosaki's gun lifted into the air before her and the trigger was pressed back…

"Momo!!!"

A sheet of clear ice appeared, blocking the bullet's path. Cold air rushed in replacing the stifling atmosphere with an aura of cleanliness. Suddenly she could move, her head turned toward the solitary figure standing at the end of the shelves. A girl wearing a long dress and a violet pea coat was there; her lips moved and ice daggers appeared slashing through Mercury's binding chain.

Kurosaki blinked when the strange girl moved closer, recognition came over his expression, "you? No…a craft user." She glanced down at him then turned away, the witch was her target. "You've twisted the God power Mercury for your own selfish ends…I'm afraid I can't forgive you." Though her voice was rather quiet the tone in which her words were spoken gave off a forbidding aura and slight malice.

"Hah! Little girl, think you can take me on? With Aoshi beside me I am unstoppable!" Sayu Kudo declared. Deducing from the woman's crazed look and glazed eyes, the hunters easily realized the woman had lost her mind. Good Gods…could this _girl_ really defeat her?

Rukia for her part wasn't afraid. The training at HQ had taught her not to be. Face forward and never look back had been one instructor's particular motto and now she had to wonder just how _Kaien-dono_ was doing. She sighed and then looked at the task at hand; the rune of binding wasn't to be taken lightly, Isa had its advantages but…her eyes flashed blue for a second when she summoned another ice sheet as a shield. Mercury's hammer struck mercilessly at the glistening surface eager to entrap her.

Maybe a bit more effort might have to be put into this one.

Rukia closed her eyes, gathering the frigid air about her into a swirling mass that she then slammed into the witch's circle of power. An icy cage drew up around her, cutting off Thurisaz. Rukia briefly opened her eyes and vivid blue flashed again. The ice crashed down…trapping Sayu in a frozen prison. Kurosaki tried to stand up and nearly slid. He scowled and inched forward on the iced up floor. He took one look at the imprisoned witch and the icicles sprouting up on every available space and said in scathing tones, "you need to get better in your aiming. Make it less to clean up."

Momo climbed up to her feet, "Ichigo! That wasn't very nice!" He ignored her and without another glance back, left. Renji scratched his head and then smiled reassuringly to Rukia, "ignore the man in the black trench. He's always been a real tight ass. Anyway you must be our new hunter, right? Renji Abarai, proclaimed rookie by everybody and this here's my substitute partner-Momo Hinamori, the peach darling of our little group."

"Rukia Kuchiki," she said, taking the hand he held out. A woman came running up suddenly, "oh my Gods! Are you guys all right? Kurosaki just came out and…" Rangiku stopped, her eyes passing over the small girl and the entire scene before her.

"And I'm Rangiku Matsumoto!" Rangiku squealed a minute later after grabbing Rukia and smothering her with the infamous _chest_. "Rangiku-the boobs of the team," Renji muttered; inwardly wishing it was _he_ being smothered by the busty woman. Momo simply smiled, "welcome to the SCG-J team, Rukia!"

~~~To be continued-or not? ~~~

A/N: don't own Bleach. Eek I'm tired…R&R anyone?


	2. Chapter 2 The Thirteenth Arcana pt1

Chapter 2: The Thirteenth Arcana pt.1

The double paned doors, reinforced by gray metal bars opened at the key-card she swiped through the electronic box. "Hello, Miss Rukia," greeted the usually stoic giant of a man seated behind the lobby's desk. She responded to this with one of her own, "pleasant morning, Mr. Sado." His brown mouth quirked slightly in amusement; as if three thirty am spoke of morning!

Rukia walked across the large room to the tiny alcove where the elevator doors parted smoothly open at the push of a round red button. She stepped inside, her thoughts muddled as she turned over the events of the last four days; her first unofficial hunt being of the witch Sayu Kudo and then meeting her new colleagues for the first time. _Kurosaki_…

The orange-haired man hadn't sent her nary a glance even when she and the others had joined him outside where a Suv and a fleet of men wearing peculiar rubber suits waited. She'd watched them work diligently and efficiently as they had secured Sayu from her icy prison and loaded her up, chained and bound by the corresponding Mercury seals. Kurosaki hadn't spoken one word to any of them during then and it was only when Rangiku had approached him with a worried expression and a question on her lips that he'd become human seeming again.

His cold brown eyes surveyed her and narrowed somewhat, "the one to replace Senna, I presume?" Rangiku was taken aback by the frigidity of his words. Momo who leaned against her car, a white Nissan the only one of theirs to be colored differently than the standard black or gray jumped to Rukia's defense, "sheesh, Ichigo! The girl saved our lives and all you can do is—" Renji tapped her lightly on the shoulder, hushing her up.

"But it's true isn't it?" Momo persisted, her eyes widening. A tiny cut went straight through her dark brown eyebrow, which she raised incredulously at Kurosaki's unmoving stance. "Craft user or not, she's a part of our team now! Even if _you_ don't like it!" He flinched as though awaiting a blow, which would never come. The witch hunters waited, Momo fuming, pushed away Renji's stalling hand and went to Rukia's side.

Her gentle hazel met timid violet and she smiled reassuringly. Finally after what seemed like hours, Kurosaki raised his bowed head to meet Rukia's dead on. His expression somber, betraying nothing, "fine." He said simply, "but do not use your _powers_ in my presence _again_."

_~~~*~~~_

If she wasn't to make use of her craft then how was she supposed to be of any help to them? She chewed her thumb nervously; the chief had let her have the four days off as a sort of getting to know their system type of thing. The way they hunted was a lot different than how HQ handled most cases.

For instance the instructors at HQ had drilled the basic coda of their laws into the respective minds of the students deemed worthy of becoming _Witch hunters_. Which happened to be one rule and one rule only.

All whom defile the human race as a whole aren't fit to exist and must be eradicated lest their corruption taint the pure.

_Kaien-dono had simplified it for his class, "it means in plain English…that all witches must die." He'd shrugged and smiled sadly at his students, his gaze had lingered longer on Rukia, perhaps thinking of her abnormality_. Her craft, her unwanted power…She balled up her fists now, how dare Kurosaki make judgment on her when he _must_ be almost the _same_. His was just _dormant_.

Her head shot up when the reflective black of the elevator doors opened at the sixth floor. Cold brown eyes met hers for a moment then he swept in past her and she stepped out. _Where was he going_? She turned back and caught his frigid stare before the elevator closed and began its descent down.

"Hey Rukia," Momo greeted upon catching sight of her entering the main office. Untidy stacks of paperwork were piled on every available space, chief Hitsugaya's shock of unusually white hair was just visible behind one of these and his annoyed words reached Rukia's ears. "Late night…and do you think he even waits up for anybody else to arrive? Oh no just waltzes out the door say—"

" 'Shiro," Momo said warningly. She paused in shrugging on her hip length lamb leather blazer. Hitsugaya straightened up, a couple of bulging ledgers in his arms, "I told you not to…oh good morning, Rukia." His lack of enthusiasm and obvious round circles of dark beneath his turquoise green eyes betrayed the late night he'd just been speaking of. Rukia glanced around the office; besides Momo and Hitsugaya and the visible untidy mop of Hanataro at his usual computer station, nobody else had come in either.

"Well I'm on my way out…um Rukia are you coming with me?" Momo had her keys dangling from her hand and the other threaded through the strap of a macramé purse.

"Where?"

Surprise lit up the lighter golden flecks in the older girl's eyes, "he didn't tell you?" Hitsugaya who hadn't moved away with his ledgers snorted derisively, "and there _he_ goes alienating another partner…just why we have to cover up for him I've no idea." He went off to his desk, sighing dramatically leaving Momo clutching her forehead and affecting an expression of sympathy but when he was out of earshot, she burst out giggling.

"He complains and snarls…but I know he doesn't mind it. You know, cleaning up our messes," she explained while Rukia looked blank. Comprehension dawned slowly on the new hunter and she nodded slightly, "I see. So where are we going again?"

~~~*~~~

"To Matsuyama hotel up in the mountains. Early last night there was an incident reported and the body of a missing woman appeared…well just her head anyway in one of the tourist suites." Momo glanced over at her passenger, an apologetic smile lifting her mouth, "Kurosaki headed over there directly as soon as we got the call from the police. 'Shiro tried to make him wait for at least you and Matsumoto but he refused. So typical of him," she gave a sigh and then brightened, "have you met Grimmjow yet?"

Rukia propped her arm on the window and unsuccessfully tried to stifle a yawn, "who's Grimmjow? Another member of the team?"

"Not really. He's more of a Yakuza poser that talks tough but is actually really nice. He works with the Tokyo police department and assists us in gathering info. Like now I'm sure Kurosaki called him down to help…cooperative police presence is a must in situations out of bounds for us. Though did I mention he loathes our de facto leader?" she whispered the last part and giggled a little at the end.

That seemed to be a running joke among the hunters; as Rukia soon found, there _were_ a lot of people who _despised_ Ichigo Kurosaki. The white car continued its steep descent up the mountainous road as the sun began peeking out with its rosy mantle; they passed a road sign declaring Matsuyama hotel only a quarter of a mile away.

Full dawn broke when Momo guided the car to a stop in the neat gravel parking lot of the turn of the century hotel. Plastered white and in the style of a yamashiro of ancient Japan with many sprawling wings and visible around toward the back, lush gardens with atypical red Torii gate nearing the foot of the higher cliff. Momo whistled low, "nice. I bet it costs the earth to stay the night _here_."

A black BMW parked a few spaces away; indicated Kurosaki's ever so prompt presence. Momo got off the car and nodded that Rukia should do the same. "He's going to have a conniption that Renji and Rangiku aren't here." Rukia closed the door from her side and nervously ran a few fingers through her black hair, seeing Momo's bag she instantly recalled setting hers on the kitchen counter back at the apartment.

"Hmm? Something wrong?" Momo had already started walking across the parking lot; she half turned questioningly when Rukia didn't follow. "My purse. I just remembered I'd left it at home." Momo cocked her head, "oh. That's okay, I'm sure we won't stay here long anyway. By the way has Inoue returned from her trip yet?"

They started talking of banal things; her roommate that she had yet to meet, the cases that had begun piling up ever since Senna's death…a costumed porter greeted them cordially at the entrance and conducted them inside to the pleasant blue color schemed lounge where they found Kurosaki silently fuming over a stack of crime scene photos and hovering over his shoulder, annoying him obviously, was a taller broad-chested man whom Momo introduced as Grimmjow Jeagerjaques.

The blue-haired man grinned widely and enveloped Rukia's hand in his own meaty fist. His T-shirt, black, strained tightly over his bulging muscles. "Nice to finally meet, sour face here's partner, Senorita Rukia," he boomed loudly much to her chagrin and lightly swept her hand up to his lips. Kurosaki's facial muscles tightened and in a carefully controlled voice he said quietly, "we are supposed to be working here, Hinamori, Kuchiki."

"Okay boss," Momo muttered; she flashed an impish wink at Rukia and then bent over gathering half of the stack of photos including one from his hand. His brown eyes narrowed as she took a seat in the opposite armchair; "you won't find anything of interest there. I've already gone through them twice."

Momo shuffled the snapshots; Rukia stepped away from Grimmjow and lifted the topmost one, a view of a dark stain on a purple comforter. "Any theories?" she asked, flipping it over, _Murasaki room _read the tiny back scrawl.

"Huh?"

"About if our culprit is a witch?"

Kurosaki scratched his stubbly cheek, "good one. Of course now we _were_ operating on that assumption. But take a look at this," he held up a see-through plastic bag the kind which police used to gather evidence. Momo being closer took it from him; "a Tarot card?" was her disbelieving reply.

"From the Major Arcana, the third in fact. The Empress." Kurosaki said knowledgably. Rukia studied the card in minute detail; it depicted a woman in flowing robes and a crown of stars on her flowing golden hair. In one hand she held a staff of high office, at her bare feet a heart with the symbol of Venus reposed. "Where was this?" Rukia asked; a shadow crossed Kurosaki's face.

"In the mouth of the dead woman."

~~~*~~~

"Tomoe Suzuki, age 27. Wife of Hidetada Suzuki, Executive of Subaru group…blah blah-blah hmm, it says here he fired his Secretary of three years, Yoko Sumeragi for eavesdropping on important Company meetings," Momo read off a file comprised by Hanataro and faxed to the Hotel's computer. A cool breeze gusted orange leaves in a dance beneath the large Maples; Rukia stared boredly ahead.

Her mind kept going back over Kurosaki's words, "_in the mouth of the dead woman. The maid found it this morning when preparing for overnight guests to arrive. Her screams brought attention and then someone called the police who in turn called us in via Grimmjow_."

The head hadn't been in a very decomposed state neither had the card shown any particular stains above that of green rot on the edges. A dead vine combined with rose thorns had formed a mock crown that upon later contemplation Rukia thought it to imitate the crown of the Empress.

"Mother. Fertility," intoned Momo solemnly. She tapped the bottom of the papers together, her lips pursed. "Why though…? Why a Tarot card? I mean there's other ways of getting their point across," she puzzled. She turned to Rukia, "what do you think?"

"What? Oh…well," Rukia hesitated, seeing the bright burning look in the brunette's eyes. "It's symbolic of something. Perhaps Tomoe was pregnant. We won't know until the rest of her body is found." Momo glanced down, the strange look gone from her eyes; "you probably think I'm weird, right? Getting so worked up over—"

A car honked; Momo cut off and instead said excitedly, "It's Rangiku and Renji!" Sure enough the familiar gray Sedan rolled to a stop beside them. The window slid down and Renji stuck his head out, "Hiya, girls." From the seat next to him, obviously they'd worked out their problems came Rangiku's smooth voice, "good morning, Hinamori, Kuchiki."

Momo smiled, "it's okay…Kurosaki's inside." A throaty chuckle burst forth and then the car door opened and Rangiku stepped out, her pink pantsuit slightly rumpled from the hours drive, her honey blond hair teased to perfection clung to her shoulders. Renji wore as usual, torn at the knees washed out denim jeans, a v-necked white shirt and black windbreaker that successfully hid his customary revolver.

"So fill us in, Momo. What are we dealing with?" Rangiku asked as the _now_ four hunters made their way inside. Momo handed over the compiled info and began explaining in as few words as possible their presence and as they neared the lounge basically commandeered by their leader…the suspected reasons for Kurosaki's current foul mood.

"Geez when you said foul, you weren't kidding!" Rangiku peered in from the open door at _his _bowed back and black glare focused on the rug before him. Grimmjow had left an hour earlier, promising a permit to examine the head, which was in police custody. Rather than express his relief at having one annoying obstacle removed from his sight it had only seemed to plunge him into a blacker mood.

"Hey, Ichigo," Rangiku risked calling to him softly. Her heels she willed not to click so loudly as she approached him, "me and Renji just got here so what do you want us to do?" He turned his head at the sound of Momo closing the creaking door so as to afford everyone privacy. "Sorry," she mouthed repentantly.

His eyes seemed to harden as they passed over Rukia standing inconspicuously by the window. His forehead furrowed and he straightened up in his seat, "if you will, Matsumoto. Go up to the crime scene and see if you can pick up anything. Abarai go with her. You," he glanced toward Rukia again, " and Hinamori search around the Gardens for anything at all suspicious. I will stay here in case Jeagerjaques comes back. Though he said it might not be until evening when the permit is granted."

No one had questioned his orders though a frown had crossed Rangiku's face at her particular set. "See if I pick up anything? Kurosaki, if you may recall I am a clairvoyant. Not an Empath like Senna." He stiffened at the mention of his dead partner's name. "I'll thank you for reminding me of that fact, Rangiku," he said, meeting her gaze with an eerie half smile, "but then what do you propose?"

Silence descended as he waited for any of them to come up with something better. Momo studied her frosty red nails, not fond of conflict. Renji wouldn't go up against him any day rookie that he was. Rangiku knew him right but just didn't want to admit defeat and the other…Rukia. Her expression bland and unmoved, her personality was the most mysterious seeing as she rarely spoke. He had yet to determine her true attitude and motives.

"Fine. I'll go see what I can pick up," Rangiku finally said, her head lowered as she left the room, Renji silent at her heels. Momo perked up, "and I'll take Rukia with me to scout around outside. If we find anything we'll call you." She linked arms with the reluctant girl and dragged her away.

~~~*~~~

"I still don't understand what he wanted us to look for," Rangiku grumbled. The pink stilettos clicked on the sturdy worn boards of the Sunoko running along the outside of the block 4A of the suites. A key hanging from a wood block hung from her loosely curled fingers. Renji sighed, running a hand through his fire engine red hair he said, "you know how he gets. We've seen it before, this…despot tyrant like mindset. Though he's usually right about things…"

Rangiku stopped before a solid paper frame door, a circular lock was set chest high. She inserted the key and twisted till she heard a satisfying click, "I know that it's just his way. But the looks he gives little Rukia," she shivered; "I'm not sure most of the time whether he wants to kill her or…_eat her_."

Renji gave a short bark of laughter, "with him probably the former."

"Yeah," his busty blond partner sighed. She slid the door back with a snap and stepped in, her hand immediately reaching for the wall switch. Light flooded the rectangular room. The walls were of a soft violet color that reminded them both of the previously mentioned _girl's eyes_. A bed of western styling faced the north; yellow crime scene tape was stretched around a small darkish stain on the purple coverlet. Rangiku approached this cautiously while Renji hung back poking through the drawers of the dresser against the wall.

"Hmm a Christian Bible, some spare sheets a complimentary lilac sachet…nothing personal," he muttered sounding disappointed. "Well of course there wouldn't be anything _personal_ in here." Rangiku said, bending low near the bedside, "remember the guests were to arrive today so the maid was freshening up the room." Her eyes traced the outline and creases extending away from the stain. It really wasn't blood; it was too dark for that. Decomposition fluids most likely from the condition of the victim's head, she grimaced but touched the tip of her gloved finger to the outermost spread.

Images flashed through her mind; blurred shapes running. A girl screaming, red…the red of a gate…a Torii gate! And the girl…her face swam into focus. It was Rukia!

Rangiku jerked back suddenly, her heart thudded loudly. Renji knelt down concernedly beside her, "see anything?" She unconsciously passed her hand over her eyes, "yeah. We need to—" A scream echoed from faraway. Panic flitted across Rangiku's face, "Rukia!" Renji jumped up to his feet, "are you sure?" His blond partner trembled, "yes we have to hurry!"

~~~*~~~

Rukia placed one foot on the stone steps carved into the cliff; her gaze traveled upward to the second much larger Torii gate at the entrance to the shrine. Momo was bending over muttering to herself in the Camellias; soon she emerged and looked too up at the distant holy place. "Well we looked everywhere here and found nothing. I'm starved by the way…that damn tea and green tea cakes served to us here didn't fill me up for nothing," she grumbled. Rukia said nothing, her violet eyes were distant and her mind elsewhere.

Momo wiped the sweat trickling from her forehead away, "we may as well go on up. Otherwise he'll tell us to do it later." Rukia lifted her eyes up again counting the steps mentally, "that's a long way…sure you're fine?" Momo glanced down sheepishly at her tall black riding boots, "my only concession to style and they have to be my down fall," she grinned, "don't worry, dear. I'll make it."

Rukia grasped the rickety handrail in one hand and in the other held up one side of her voluminous dress, Momo followed at a slower pace so that it was Rukia who came first upon the comforting sight of an old man. Bald as the priests usually were, wearing the loose violet robes and yellow sash of his vocation calmly sweeping the topmost steps with a straw broom. He stepped aside to let them pass; another man in a business suit exited the shrine in a decidedly hurried manner.

Rudely pushing past Momo, her only impression of him was a cap of sleek black hair and small-averted eyes as he went down the steps quickly. "Huh? What's he all in a rush for?" she muttered, one hand balanced forward on the stone. Rukia turned, "hey you alright?" The brunette hunter smiled faintly, "yeah. He just brushed past me is all." Together they crossed beneath the Torii gate, while Momo bowed respectfully to the priest, Rukia wandered toward the simple wooden shrine. Her senses tingled and her head swiveled slowly to the ancient stone trough.

A woman, her black hair straight and long knelt before it dipping her hands in the clear water. Rukia started to move toward her; then as if an illusion…she vanished. A golden maple leaf twirled lazily in circles, caught in a mini dust devil before it landed in the water. Momo walked up just then, "he says we're welcome to look around the temple. Hmm…did something happen?" she noticed Rukia's fixed stare on the floating leaf.

"No. It must've been just my imagination."

"Well whatever you say," Momo muttered, her brown eyes scanning the few trees as her sense of being watched increased. Twenty minutes later as they emerged sweaty and dusty from one of the smaller store rooms and Rukia sneezed. "Heh. Someone's talking about you," Momo commented dryly. Rukia raised an eyebrow, "really?"

"Eh it's just an old wives tale. You know like when—"

She froze, staring straight ahead. Rukia automatically followed the brunette's line of sight…a man hung from his foot by a rope attached to the top of the Torii gate. Her eye was drawn down to the _two_ brightly colored cards directly below him. The Hanged man and…The Hierophant.

Turning now back to the small shrine, her body pivoted in a graceful circle. Rukia's eyes widened and she screamed for it was the kindly old priest sitting on the wooden steps, in one gnarled hand he held a plain staff. Around his neck was an embroidered scarf of tiny crosses. A tiny stream of blood oozed from his slack-jawed mouth.

~~~To be continued~~~

A/N: gruesome wasn't it? Anyhow this is a parody of WHR but this chapter was completely made up by me not a copy of the episodes. Tee hee…the cards described come from the Rider-Waite Tarot deck of which I don't own but we have a book about the Tarot and their meanings using that set. Coincidentally I can read the Tarot and have my own little deck :D heh. The runes from chapter one were: Thurisaz and Isa. Isa being the rune of ice and Thurisaz being the runic hammer or something…I don't have my book open in front of me currently. Note: I can read the runes also. Heh, reviews are loved!


	3. Chapter 3 The Thirteenth Arcana pt2

Chapter3. The Thirteenth Arcana pt.2

Momo had seen death before. The glazed eyes, drying blood from the ripped up bodies but never had she felt the same horror that coursed through her veins and made her blood run cold then when the man with the sleek black hair and rumpled business suit swayed slightly in the breeze blowing. His left leg was crossed behind the right, which was straight up tied by some silver cord visible against the dark material of the pants. His arms were bound behind his back; her eyes went to his face, the expression tight, the glassy eyes fearful as if recognizing their attacker and knowing death imminent.

The bile rose in her throat.

Rukia fared little better. Stunned she had pivoted around to face the still body of the priest. Her violet eyes were horrified and a piercing scream rolled out from her throat. Pounding footsteps thudded the stone steps and a blond head came into view. Rangiku stopped, just as shocked as her fellow hunters. Her gray eyes traced the swaying figure and she whispered softly, "oh Gods…"

Renji came up behind her, panting heavily. He started back when he finally looked up, "oh geez! What the hell…?" Momo lowered her hands from her face, tears forming. Rangiku swallowed hard and ducked beneath the hanging body. Immediately she pulled her into a tight bear hug, "don't look at it…shhh. Rukia?"

The new hunter had backed away. From the stone trough she retrieved a floating leaf, "I know who the witch is," she said, looking at it closely. Renji had inched below the Torii gate just as Rangiku did but now he glanced up at the corpse and then down at the cards on the ground. Rangiku and Momo looked over to her curiously, "what?" Renji who had the presence of mind to question her more coherently, "who is it, Rukia?" seconded this.

Rukia turned the leaf over in her small hands and held it up for them to see, "a ghost. We thought it couldn't possibly be Yoko Sumeragi because according to a report from three years ago she had committed suicide in Tokyo bay. But this proves it…" the leaf at first glance appeared ordinary but when light was reflected through it…a form of a tiny cross in flames became visible.

~~~****~~~

"Okay she died by drowning in the bay…but here it says that rather than burn her body as per Japanese custom…her parents buried her in a small graveyard in the ruins of a burned down Church on a tiny island several miles out from Tokyo bay," Renji stabbed his finger down on an unfolded map. Dust motes danced in the air clinging to Rangiku's blouse. She batted at them annoyed, "so our Yoko other than having a strain of *Berkana a generation or two back…was buried instead of being cremated. And the part about the church makes sense."

"From the leaf," Renji added.

"Right."

~~~****~~~

An hour at the police station had slowly turned into two then three and still Grimmjow wasn't convinced. For how could two hunters, one seasoned the other fresh from the strict Solomon academy, not hear or see anything when two men were murdered practically a few feet away? And no he refused the vague hypothesis of Rukia's that the culprit was a dead witch.

Ghosts don't murder people. That's a fact.

His sharp teal eyes rolled up to the ceiling; Momo seeing this glared angrily at him. If looks could kill then he'd have been a pile of ash by now. "It all fits," she tried again, "the Tarot cards, the story—" Grimmjow tilted his chair back muttering, "what story? Explain to me how you two didn't hear or notice—a"

"Going back to this _again_?!" Momo snapped. Rukia sat placidly beside her on a hard plastic chair, her arms propped up on the table, her expression drowsy. Grimmjow slammed his hand down on the table startling her. Even Momo seemed a bit cowed. "I'm sorry," he said to them both, "but I just need to understand this." He pressed the button on the tape recorder down, turning it off.

"Tell me then. So I can help you," he gestured to Momo.

Her hazel eyes softened, "alright. I'll start at the beginning. Hanataro compiled all the info for us; Rangiku and Renji are checking something out as we speak and um…well here it goes. Yoko Sumeragi was fired three years ago from Subaru group from her job as Secretary. The reasons given were weak and it took only a little digging to find out more. She'd been having an affair with one of the Executives a Mr. Hidetada Suzuki, husband of Tomoe Suzuki. Tomoe found out and threatened separation and scandal if the details of the affair were made public. So grudgingly he got rid of Yoko…who was five months pregnant and just about to start showing."

Grimmjow nodded, "I'm following you so far. But why after three years would her spirit come back to seek revenge?" Momo smiled knowingly, "ah but here's the real dirt. Hidetada's younger brother proposed to her as a sort of cover up in case she spilled her guts. Hiro Suzuki, the second victim. For some reason or other, this, Hanataro couldn't find out why. He jilted her at the altar. And then two months later devastated once more she threw herself off the pier into the churning water below."

"Hmm so…but then why kill the first guy's wife?"

"Simple. According to the fertility clinic files we found. All those years the couple had tried but with no success in having children then it finally happened. Tomoe Suzuki was seven months pregnant when she went missing."

~~~****~~~

"Who'd have thought that a spirit could cause this much harm?" Rangiku muttered, looking over the papers they'd found once more. Renji steered the car smoothly, easing up on the gas pedal as they came up to a light just turning yellow. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," he quoted. Rangiku looked up, her eyes vaguely amused, "do you speak from experience?"

Her partner gave a short bark of self-deprecating laughter, "no. But that's what we're dealing with isn't it?" She nodded, "yeah. I wonder where Kurosaki was heading off to when he said to meet him back at Raven's 13 later on?"

"Huh I don't know…but right now we have to spring Momo and Rukia from Grimm's clutches—oh ho speak of the devil!" He swerved into a _no parking_ spot in front of the Tokyo police department. Coming down the steps, being led out by the shifty-eyed policeman was Momo hiding a secret smile and Rukia holding her skirt up a few inches while going down.

"Let me guess, you want to come with us?" Rangiku asked smiling as the girls piled in the backseat and Grimmjow made as if to follow them. Momo bounced and leaned forward between the front seats, "his boss didn't want to let us go but Grimm," she flicked him a grin, "snuck us out."

Rangiku's smile grew wider, "really? Could Grimm have a soft spot for us hunters?" The blue-haired man snorted, "as if! I just wanted to see if I could use you guys to get my suspect." He slid into the back beside Rukia who tried not to look uncomfortable while having her hip right up against his.

"_Uh huh_…" Rangiku exchanged a look with Momo.

~~~****~~~

One person who didn't look happy to see Grimmjow was Kurosaki when the elevator doors opened and the group stepped out. He was waiting in the hallway outside the main office, his typical scowl in place, "what's _he_ doing here?" Rangiku got between them as Grimm taking this as an insult from the lead hunter stalked toward him angrily. "Good Gods can't you two not fight? We have a case that needs our attention right now…besides that. _You_ of all people, Ichigo, should know exactly _why_ he wants to join in."

Vindicated, Grimmjow crossed his arms over his chest and smirked triumphantly as his rival's face _twitched_. "I see…just this one time then. Oh and Grimm…the coroner I spoke with today told me to pass this message on to you. He had said to say _hello to kitty_. When I told him I didn't know anybody named _kitty_, he smiled and said you would understand," Kurosaki shrugged.

Grimmjow's eye twitched much like a tic, "what was his name?" he asked tightly.

Rangiku herded the others around them, her eyes rolling up to the ceiling.

"I don't recall the first but I usually address him as _Schiffer-san_."

"ULQUIORRA! THAT BASTARD!!!"

~~~****~~~

"Damn dirty rat," Grimmjow was still grumbling as he took a seat on the low square stools placed around the central computers. Rangiku leaned over to hiss in Rukia's ear, "he really means _bat_. I've seen Schiffer-san once before so I know he has his ears pierced and…" she giggled a bit, "Wears tiny silver bat studs."

A spurt of half-hushed giggling earned them a harsh glare from Kurosaki. Hitsugaya being out of the office luckily for Grimmjow since _the humans_ weren't supposed to participate or be aware of the SCG's existence. Made _him_ the instigator of the meeting to which he took to with aplomb. The circular lights above dimmed with a command from the computer below and a 3D image flashed up on all the screens.

"This is an X-ray of Tomoe Suzuki's head. Schiffer-san when examining it, noticed some peculiar lacerations to the neck. He thought it was as if she had been alive and had a thin cord wrapped around her throat then was dragged by it from behind. Are any of you familiar with the old practice of _Garroting_?"

When no one answered, Momo spoke up, "um it was a favored method of execution in Spain where they would place an iron collar around the victim's neck and use screws to slowly tighten it. Mostly it was done to criminals but elsewhere axes were twisted in thick rope to the same effect. Basically a very painful and gruesome death."

In the semi-darkness of the room everybody self-consciously touched their own throats silently giving thanks for not being born _back then_. Kurosaki smiled eerily again, "correct. Tomoe Suzuki was garroted, her head cut off in the process. Strangulation was also a determining factor in her brother-in-law, Hiro Suzuki's death. His was instantaneous as the weight of his own body crushed his lungs. The priest the same way by strangulation. What the precise connection there is…I won't know until _Momo_ finds out for me."

The brunette flushed and agitatedly said, "Find out what?"

"Well I'd thought to spare Grimm here from any possible criminal charges later on but since he seems so set on helping us…"

"Just cut the crap, Kurosaki! And explain what you have in mind," Grimmjow crossed his arms in typical annoyance. Kurosaki glanced at him and then slid his gaze over everyone else, speaking slowly so that his words weren't misinterpreted, "on Tsushima Island are the ruins of a church and near these ruins is a small Christian Cemetery…Momo I want you to take Kuchiki with you and dig up our dead girl Yoko. Make sure she's really and still _dead_."

"What?" confused beyond reasoning, the brunette hunter stared at her leader in shock.

"WHAT!" Grimmjow had started up from his stool, pointing a shaky finger in Kurosaki's direction, "grave robbing is--"

"Punishable by law," Rangiku spoke calmly, her hands folded on her lap, "we know that. But Ichigo has a point. One of Yoko's older relatives whom was a witch had the craft of Berkana, the resurrection wheel. Life and death are balanced on it much as the symbol on the Wheel of fortune, the tenth Major Arcana. Right now we could be dealing with a—r"

"Resurrected witch," Rukia finished. Her quietness had seemingly marked her as a docile female but _he_ could see it. Stubbornness lurking just beneath the surface, a will unbroken by no one, strength masked by a face of calm…and a quaint sort of beauty rare in most women. "Precisely, Kuchiki. I see that HQ trained you well," Kurosaki said, his tone unusually lacking in bite.

Was that a compliment?

Rangiku's blond head swiveled toward him and then back to the girl sitting beside her. _Her_ violet eyes were trained on the screen before her, determinedly it seemed. Though when she was sure he wasn't looking at her, or anybody else for that matter, _she_ snuck a sideways glance at his profile.

_So she did like him to some extent…but just how much_?

Momo was still arguing about her and the girl in question going alone to Tsushima Island, but Rangiku ignored that. Probably Renji and herself were to do field work or something along the like…and Grimmjow really wasn't hunter material him being a cop and all. Besides Hitsugaya would go absolutely ballistic if he caught wind of the fact that they'd let someone other than an HQ hunter join them for a meeting.

Speaking of Hitsugaya….

"What the hell are _you_ doing _here_?!"

Momo shrieked and jolted in her seat, Rangiku mildly turned to confront the short shadow standing in the entranceway, "hello, chief. How's your day been?" Kurosaki sighed, cupped his forehead with his palm in a clear gesture of downright defeat. Hitsugaya didn't take kindly to Rangiku's question as he glanced from their guilty faces to the perplexed expression coloring the offending policeman's countenance.

"Alright I want some answers and _I _want them _now_!"

~~~*~~~

"Geez he didn't have to be so rude," muttered Momo as she and Rukia walked out into the underground parking lot. Kurosaki had stayed behind to try and smooth things over with chief Hitsugaya…'_good luck with that_' as Rangiku had said when she too had left through the front with Renji.

Grimmjow slouched behind the two girls, his hands in his pockets, seemingly deep in thought. "To the police station?" Momo asked him when they reached the white car. He looked over to her, his teal eyes troubled, "Kurosaki meant it, huh? Digging up that woman's grave?"

She nodded.

"Hmm, I see…" he placed his hand atop the roof of the car, leaning forward toward the drivers side, "will you two…you know be okay with it? You can't have somebody go with you?" Momo looked to Rukia and they shared a second of meaningful silence then the petite raven-haired hunter ducked her head briefly.

"You could come with us," Momo offered.

~~~*~~~

"Get out he says! Good Gods does he think he owns us?!" Renji snarled angrily to the steering wheel. Rangiku tucked a blond strand of hair behind her ears, making her diamond encrusted hoops shine, "I don't doubt that he thinks that. Though…I really believe he wanted us out of the way so he could stash those cases of Peach Oolong tea waiting out in the hallway."

"You think so?"

"I know so," Rangiku smiled, shifting slightly in the leather seat of the sedan. To make it up to Matsuyama Hotel and back to Tokyo by sundown was a feat only accomplishable with the speed demon hands of her red-haired partner. But what exactly had Kurosaki wanted them to look for there…?

~~~*~~~

The cold wind whipped the skirt of Rukia's dress. She smoothed her hand along the fabric trying with minimal success to keep it from flying up. Momo stood a few steps away, haggling over the price of a rented boat with an old man. He eyed them suspiciously, especially Grimmjow and his _borrowed_ SCG jacket. One of Renji's spares from the trunk of the Nissan, it also neatly hid the tiny revolver, usually kept in the gloved compartment for emergencies, but now put to use in place of Grimm's service gun.

The tiny black metal revolver wasn't as tiny and harmless as it seemed. A rounded side chamber held four craft negation bullets and on the other side, four more with titanium tips on the glass body. Grimmjow had let out a low whistle when he'd been handed it back when they were still in the car. His appreciation for the _pistola pequena_ had only increased when Momo explained its features and the lack of de-pressurization needed as hers did.

An improvised holster made up from a partially busted one thrown in the backseat and his belt had completed it. He walked around now on the quay, pausing every once in a while to pat the area under his arm with a smirk. If only Kurosaki could see him now! Rukia edged along the rope railing toward him, "Jeagerjaques-san, come. Momo's secured us a boat."

Grimmjow half-turned and let out a bark of laughter, when he could speak properly he explained, "I'm sorry I wasn't exactly making fun of you, Senorita. It's just that Kurosaki…he never treats me with anything but in a manner of utmost dislike…and hearing _you_ say Jeagerjaques-san, it really tickles my funny bone!"

"Guys, hurry up!"

They both looked down to where Momo was waving energetically up at them from the stern of a small fishing boat. Grimmjow offered Rukia his hand as they descended the slick steps to the waterfront. Taking it gratefully, she clung to him tightly as her heels threatened to slide out from under her. "Easy does it," he said, gently helping her settle on the narrow wooden plank that served as a seat. Her weight swayed the craft as though it were made of driftwood. Grimmjow stepped back and eyed it dubiously, "are you sure it won't capsize?" His teal eyes traced the worn front and precarious dipping it made whenever Momo moved.

"Of course it _won't,_ silly! Right, Rukia?"

Aforementioned girl sat still as a statue, one pale hand rose up to her mouth; holding in, Grimmjow suspected blatant motion sickness. He backed wisely away, "I'll have to pass, Momo, Rukia. I just don't—l"

"Like water? Eh, _kitty_?"

A tic appeared much like it had before when Kurosaki had relayed that strange greeting from the coroner. Momo noticed and continued, "poor little kitty…afraid of water is he? Maybe…Schiffer-san was right and we should call you _Grimm-kitty_, how does that sound? Grimm-kitty?"

His jaw tightened, his eyes flashed dangerously, he hopped into the boat so fast that it swayed violently beneath them. "Let's go then," he said tightly in answer to Momo's brilliant smile. She handed him a worn oar "start paddling. We have a long ways to go."

"Wait…isn't Tsushima Island several miles out from…"

"Uh huh. So start paddling!"

Rukia wordlessly leaned over the side of the boat.

~~~*~~~

Hours and many aching muscles later and the stone ruins of a building came into view. Grimmjow groaned with extended effort as they swung into a natural cove. "I—am—never going to help you two again!" he gasped out, nearly collapsing onto the sandy stretch of beach. Momo stepped out, her feet touching down lightly, "oh, get over it! I'm sure you just built up at least a tighter six-pack," she said, glancing appreciatively at the taut sculpt visible beneath his shirt.

Grimmjow swung the black jacket over his shoulder, "yeah, yeah." He looked up and down the sand, noting the peculiar quiet, "no birds," he said half to himself. Rukia got up shakily, her mouth firmly covered by a linen handkerchief, her eyes darted around curiously. "What time is it, Momo?" she asked through the muffling fabric.

"Five pm sharp." Momo bent down and hoisted a pair of small campsite spades over her back, "Rangiku and Renji are supposed to join us in an hour or so by speed boat. In case you're wondering that's how we're to get back," she muttered seeing the look Grimmjow shot her. He simply shrugged, "well lead on then."

The sand eventually petered out to coarse grass yellowed at the edges for lack of water. Boulders lined a pathway of sorts, leading as Grimmjow suspected right up into the Cemetery. A board lying near the rusted fence spikes gave the name as _St Francis's dear ones_. Weathered stones lay toppled over onto each other, Momo picked her way through carefully, in one hand she held a paper bearing the exact placement of their quarry's plot…however after a few minutes of quiet searching…he heard her distinctly mutter a curse.

"Damn. This can't be right!"

"What?"

She turned in a complete circle counting the graves, "it says here that there's supposed to be thirty one people buried in this Cemetery."

"So?"

"There's only," she ticked her fingers in mid-air, "Thirty."

Grimmjow frowned before he could say anymore Rukia beat him to it, "how can that be?" Momo poked one of the stones with her foot, "I don't know…unless…" her eyes went to the single spire rising up from the hill. Rukia looked to just in time to catch the glare of the setting sun as it illuminated the spire, making it seem as though it were on fire.

"A burning cross," Rukia breathed softly.

~~~*~~~

Momo stared up at the gilt sky just starting to darken at the edges, "we'd better hurry." Grimmjow took his shovel and began poking around the charred ruins, "do we know _what_ we're looking for?" he asked, somewhat annoyed at this _extra_ work required of _him_. Rukia knelt down at the remnants of the stone altar to peer at the inscription carved there, "Therefore, he that made them will not have mercy on them. He that formed them will show them no favor," she read aloud.

"Cheerful isn't it?" Grimmjow commented, tapping a blackened brick. Momo glanced at him, "Isaiah 27:11. And to someone of the faith it makes perfect sense." He snorted and her expression darkened. "If you're a fanatic that is…" he walked a few steps then caught something with the tip of his shoe. Kneeling he pushed away mortar chips and broken bricks to uncover a flat stone without any writing on it.

"Hey, girls, I think I found something!"

They both crowded around him. "Small. Rather too small to contain a body, no?" Momo theorized as she pushed away strands of hair hanging in her eyes. Grimmjow rapped his knuckles on the smooth top, producing a distinct sound, "hollow inside. Maybe a crypt?"

"Maybe," Momo sounded doubtful. Rukia raised her eyes from it to catch the swiftest of shadows dart away behind a part of a tumbling down exterior wall. "Open it," she said softly. Momo glanced at her but shrugged to Grimmjow's questioning look, "go ahead." The two hunters stepped back as Grimmjow straightened up from his crouch, leveled the shovel and struck down with ear-splitting force.

Tiny stone chips flew but the whole of the stone didn't budge. Again he struck it, opting for an angle, four spidery cracks appeared. Five more and chunks crumbled down into the seeping darkness of the inside. Momo watching the approaching night above, brought forth a couple of high-beam flashlights from the duffel bag hanging from her shoulder, handing one to Rukia, she switched hers on and shone it down into the hole.

Floating dust and debris cloaked the air, but she thought she could see something…ivory colored and fragile looking. "Break the sides, Grimm," she ordered. He huffed and wiped the back of his hand across his sweating face, "you're the boss woman." He brought the point of the shovel down at the corner, slamming it one last time until he heard a satisfying crack. The stone caved in emitting choking quantities of powdery dust, Grimmjow coughed violently, Momo leaned forward, shining her flashlight down.

"Oh my…"

Grimmjow followed her line of sight down into the hole, his teal eyes widened, "fuck it's…"

"A baby."

~~~*~~~

Rangiku looked around the room once more, "just as I thought," she said disgustedly, "nothing." Renji dusted his hands then scooped his gloves off the dresser top, "well _Ichigo_ did say to check thoroughly. Top and bottom…" he glanced toward the spotless bed, "though after the police finished up, I don't know what he expected us to find." Rangiku sighed, "a wild goose chase," she sat down on the edge of the bed.

Renji quirked an eyebrow, "you sure you want to sit there? That is after all where Tomoe's head was left." A soft chuckle was his reply. "You don't think I'm that morbid do you?" she sniffed, "I suppose we'll have to get back to Tokyo soon…" her gray eyes wandered upward, "hey Renji…"

"Huh?"

"There's a hand above you," she pointed up at the crossbeam ceiling.

"What!"

He spun around, his head tilting back, just in time to have a small tan colored book drop on his face from a slender white hand that retreated into the shadows.

"Ouch! Dammit!"

The innocuous little book fluttered to the floor losing a page along with it. Rangiku bent down, ignoring her partner's annoyed yelp, her fingers closed around the edge but already she could see from the spidery writing written across it that it was someone's journal.

"Listen to this. '_My baby is already a month old. Such a precious thing she_ _is, just today she smiled at me and I wondered at the beauty Hidetada and I had created_.'" Rangiku read on, even as they raced out to the parking lot, "'_He'll marry me, I know that with all my heart…from the very first he said he loved me. Loved me. Me_. _Yoko. Tomoe's half-sister_—"

"Wait—wait a minute!" Renji interrupted, "half-sister? It wasn't in any of the files Hanataro complied for us so how…?"

"I don't know but that's what it says…hold on," Rangiku selected another page and flicked the switch for the car's overhead reading light. Though the digital clock said 4:45 pm, the sky was darkening fast on their stretch of highway. "_My father abandoned me. Denied my existence, I learned later of my sister's happy childhood with her two happy parents. A loving mother, a loving father. My father_. _I've longed to call him that…though he'll never know. Tomoe is her name. His perfect daughter's name…mine; sunlight, sunshine. No one's sunshine_."

"Angsty wasn't she?"

Rangiku snapped the book shut after reading another passage silently, "Renji, step on it!"

~~~*~~~

The tiny skull, round empty sockets stared luridly up at them. "Good Gods," Momo reiterated, "it's a baby…but how? Why?" Rukia more in control of her initial reaction bent low, her hands gathering her skirt, her finger traced the broken lip of the stone casket, "Sumeragi Himawari. Yoko's daughter."

A crack of thunder preceded her ominous statement and Grimmjow jumped, his hair standing on end, "can we go now?" Momo rubbed her arms inside her coat sleeves, "we can't go _anywhere_ until Rangiku and Renji bring another boat. Which I hope they do fast," she muttered as her flashlight's steady beam began to decrease. Rukia stood up, switching hers off, "where shall we wait? They won't know to look for us here."

"Hmm, good point. I suppose we should head back down to the shoreline then. We'll tell Kurosaki what we found later—!" Momo's eyes widened, Rukia caught the look reflected by the faint light of the flashlight. "What's wrong?" she asked, her own violet eyes scanning the nearby darkness. Grimmjow shifted uneasily, the shovel handle clutched tightly in one thick fist.

The silence stretched. Broken only by intermittent crackles of thunder farther out over the sea; clearly this was not a night for sailing.

"I thought—I—"

Everything happened in a blur of rushing shapes, bursts of light and above all, screams. First from Momo as she cut off, her flashlight fell to the ground, her body doubled over, her arms wrapped around herself. Rukia jerked back suddenly when she tried to help the brunette hunter, a silver cord snaking around her throat, dragging her violently away. Teal eyes darted from side to side, defensively he raised the shovel; his feet spread wide apart. Momo gasping huddled near him, "Rukia!" she choked out.

Faint cackling floated on the wind toward them and then _nothing_.

~~~*~~~

"It's gotta be here somewhere!"

"We've already checked twice. There's no tombstone with even a similar name that possibly could be Yoko Sumeragi's!" Grimmjow said tiredly. The pacing swing of Momo's flashlight bounced in crazy arks over the graves in _St. Francis's dear ones_. A sack near Grimm's feet held the hurriedly gathered remains of Himawari Sumeragi. He'd balked originally at disturbing the baby's bones but a glare from Momo had silenced him and grudgingly he'd collected them up.

"I just don't understand!"

He looked up to see the formerly cool and calm hunter, angry and frustrated. Add a dash of worry in there also and you have Momo's current mood. Not that he could blame her. It wasn't pleasant to think neither that Rukia had been taken nor that they hadn't the faintest clue or hope of getting her back. Alive that is.

A crack sounded as she banged her foot angrily on the nearest stone, something broke off of it falling into the crackly weeds below. Momo glanced at it then did a double take, "paint?" she dropped down, her gloved fingers scraping the loose flakes off. Grimmjow drew near, squatting beside her. "Bingo. We found it!"

He turned the mounds of dirt over while she stood back, a cigarette lighter in her hand. _To burn the remains_, she recalled was the only way to set the spirit free. His shovel struck something hard, using the point he shoved the remaining black soil off of a smooth weathered pine surface. Prying the lid off Grimmjow fought off a hiss of disgust, his nose crinkling in distaste for the musky odor leaking from the dried husk inside.

Momo shone her flashlight down, pressing the trigger of the lighter on, "Requiescat in Pace," she muttered, tossing the tiny tongue of flame into the casket. A brilliant blaze erupted, as did an inhuman scream shatter the air, Grimmjow started back. Momo fell in beside him, both watching as the plumes of gray smoke rose up into the stormy sky. A face, mouth opening in a final shriek of defiance formed on the side. Scrambling footsteps sounded on the weed-choked path outside the Cemetery. Three people appeared. Rangiku, Renji and an extremely dazed Rukia.

"Hey! Are you guys alright?" Rangiku asked, struggling to cross the confining grass stalks. Momo glanced at Grimmjow and smiled faintly, "yeah. I guess we are. Anyway…what took you so long!?"

~~~*~~~

"Revenge can do a lot of harm," Rangiku muttered more as a statement than anything else to Kurosaki's questioning. Everyone had gotten back to Raven's 13 and were sitting in a semicircle in the main office, Hanataro had brewed a pot of coffee and most if not all had a steaming cup in hand. He nodded.

Grimmjow, no one knew how, but he had sustained a couple of non-life threatening cuts to his arms and face, Momo was tending to these with a first aid kit and an iodine swab. The teal-haired Police officer hissed in pain when she applied the swab to his cheek, "so then three people were murdered by a dead woman seeking revenge?"

"A dead witch you mean," Rangiku indicated the thin tan book sitting on the desk, "in one passage she refers to a _gift_ that God had bestowed on her. Her Aunt had the same _gift_ as it were and is mentioned as having disappeared one day from her house in Odawara. Yoko was very bitter about it seeing as 'auntie' was the only person who understood her and the _changes_ she was going through. Let alone later when she fell in love with her half sister's husband."

"But enough so that she wanted her dead?"

"Jealousy is a powerful emotion. Negative though it is, we can only assume it fueled the strength of her craft," Renji said, shaking his head at the refill of his cup that Hanataro offered, "so that when she did die…her soul was able to manifest years later when her original intended victim became pregnant; her own baby having been drowned in the bay along with herself."

Hitsugaya who was listening in, came forward suddenly from the scanner, "I agree with your assumptions since we may never know the absolute truth," he looked at them each in turn until his eyes came to rest on the itinerant police man trying to appear invisible under the Chief's usually withering glare. The Chief sighed, extending a key card laminated in plastic and attached to a silver ball chain, "here. Because of the help you gave us today on this case and in the past with your unwavering cooperation…against my better judgment I present you with this."

Grimmjow took the card from him, turning it over in his broad hands, "is this what I think it is?" A slow grin, cat-like the hunters noticed with alarm, spread over the police man's face, "a key card allowing entry into the building like what the hunters have?"

Hitsugaya frowned, "yes it is. Now I expect you not to go blabbing about this to anyone not even your boss." Grimmjow snorted, "as if I'd ever tell that jackass Tosen anything about you guys! Justice and peace my ass!" Momo stifled a giggle when teal eyes shot her a glare.

"Well alls well that ends well, I guess," she said, dabbing at another cut and causing Grimm to shriek right in the middle of his glory of getting on Kurosaki's nerves. Rangiku took a swallow of coffee then glanced at the sack of bones near Grimm's feet, "except what're you going to do with those? Shouldn't you have burned them too?"

Three pairs of eyes immediately dropped down to the sack, widening in alarm. "You don't by any chance have a large Cauldron around here do you?" Grimmjow asked, directing his question to Hitsugaya.

"What for?"

"To burn the bones in. I mean you guys are witch hunters and all…what?" the teal-haired honorary witch hunter glanced at the shocked faces of his new comrades.

"What? Can't you take a joke?"

"Just shut it, Grimmjow," Kurosaki and Rangiku muttered at the same time.

"Huh? What'd I say?!"

~~~To be continued~~~

A/N: Ugh this chappie nearly killed me! Over five thousand words long…eek! And I still wasn't too happy with the outcome ahem, reviews are appreciated.-) ciao. Note: The thirteenth Arcana in the Tarot deck is the Death card hence the title of the chapters. Clairvoyant: for those who don't know, is somebody who has visions of the future. An Empath: reads strong emotions left behind in objects or senses them.


	4. Chapter 4 Paper flowers

Chapter.4: Paper flowers

~~~Two years ago ~~~

A breeze blew the girl's violet locks, her crimson eyes, unusual even for a craft user, narrowed and closed slightly as dust gusted up along the bike path. She glanced around for her partner's sturdy form. _He'd said he'd come_.

She kicked a pebble, scuffing her black boots. Her hip-length trench wrapped tightly around her, she shivered. Her hands sought the object in her wide pocket, an ID badge. The name encased in laminated plastic read _Senna Kano_, her name.

Ichigo had given it to her the night before. Her fingers tingled, picking up the foreign emotions, words flashed through her mind. _Partner, craft user and mother_…Senna opened her eyes. That last feeling, _what was it? Mother? His mother_? Pity, regret and a mixture of something else…like loathing, intense and undeniable.

She reached into her pocket again, drawing out a pair of gloves; a tiny metal band had been sewn into the cuff, _her mom's handiwork_. The tiny invisible symbols radiated a concealing power something to oppose her craft. Senna slipped them on and then ran her fingers over the ID again. Nothing. Not even the faintest trace of anyone else's feelings.

_Inner feelings_, she thought with a faint smile.

He would need time to get used to her even though she wanted nothing more than to know everything about him. A bright color danced on the air currents, she stretched her hand out and caught it between two fingers. A flower. A folded paper blossom, but where had it come from? She glanced backward, seeing nothing. An idea occurred to her and she smiled happily. Hanataro. She'd take it to him. After all didn't part of his name mean flower?

She left, walking away before a voice carried, whispering: "_paper flowers_…"

~~~SCG office present day~~~

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Rukia bent over as a stack of files crashed to the floor from her going by. Hanataro glanced over at her, ear buds blasting the latest from An Café, his expression bemused. They were the only ones in the office. Kurosaki having left with Renji an hour before and Momo staying home due to the injuries she'd received from their last case. Rangiku, by the sales catalogue found in the drawer of her desk wouldn't be making an appearance until many hours after the department stores closed.

No one knew exactly where Chief Hitsugaya was.

Rukia began scooping up the fallen paperwork, her eyes landed on a crushed wad of brightly colored paper. She plucked it up and scrutinized it closely, "a paper flower?" she wondered aloud. Hanataro heard and barely disguised a blush before snatching it from her hand. "Just a piece of old evidence. Ishida must've forgotten it when filing away all the other items."

"Do you get many? Or you know…keep them around?" she asked curiously. He lowered the tangle of wires from his neck, slipping the ear buds out; a shadow crossed his face as he refolded the tiny orange flower back into its original shape. "Not many. Like from the last case, the diary of that girl got sorted into one of the filing cabinets below stairs. This one," he held up the remolded flower, "was from a case at Yotsuga Lake. Ms. Senna found it one day after passing through there…she used to visit the Church and came across this…later, the Police discovered a body not five feet away from the area where she had been. Other people turned up—"

"Yamada, quit frightening the new recruit," a dry, bored-sounding voice called from the office door. Hanataro jumped and quickly shuffled papers on his desk trying to appear busy. "Good afternoon, Chief," Rukia greeted the annoyed white-haired man walking in. In his arms the usual untidy binders were clutched. "Ah, Rukia. Just the hunter I wanted to see. Kurosaki said to memorize these but I'll bet you're wondering about the tale, _Yamada_," here he shot the other cowering male a glare, "was regaling to you."

She blinked, cocking her head at him, "yeah. How did you know?"

"Lucky guess," Hitsugaya shrugged.

Her eye twitched; it seemed everybody here said that. _A lucky guess…yeah right_! Hanataro remained studiously quiet, his short fingers tapping at the keys diligently. Hitsugaya approached, setting the stack he was carrying on the nearest desk, his turquoise green eyes for a moment lost their suspicious distrust, softening at the edges. "Yotsuga Lake Park," he muttered, reaching for the paper flower.

Rukia nodded, gauging his reaction, "could I…?"

"Go check it out? Sure. But I doubt Kurosaki would want you going alone-" Hitsugaya paused as a look of disbelief crossed her face. "What I mean is," he amended quickly, "would you mind terribly if I went with you? I'd never hear the end of it from Matsumoto if something happened while I let you go out alone…though _that woman_ should be here right now…"

She giggled; poor Rangiku was going to get an earful later.

"I don't mind."

~~~***~~~

"Were you a hunter?" she asked, her eyes sliding over to Hitsugaya while he drove to the Park. He braked smoothly before answering, "I was. A long time ago." From the note in his tone she knew better than to ask more curious though she was. He tapped the center mirror and smiled sadly at his reflection, "if I were to ask you if you had the desire to question me further about this, what would your answer be?"

"No," she looked straight ahead.

"Then you'd be lying," he said simply.

Her violet eyes widened, "Ansuz," she murmured, "the spoken word. You see into people's hearts and know when they're lying."

Hitsugaya nodded somberly, "I did. Well not exactly to that extent. You're thinking of an Empath. They can read emotions and disturbances in set patterns. I only got good enough to be the lead hunter's partner. Neliel Tu Oderschvank was her name. Ms. Nel to me. She replaced Ms. Masaki twenty years ago and led the team for fifteen after that. Kurosaki took over for her five years back and she retired to Okinawa to run a small tourist inn."

Rukia knitted her hands together, "I see. But—"

"I can't be a hunter anymore," Hitsugaya interrupted her abruptly, his fingers suddenly taut on the knobbly circular steering wheel cover, "my powers lessened. It happens, you know, being out in the field, the duress your body goes through drawing on the elements of the craft. After everything, you begin to weaken…mine I retain a thread of because I remember how it felt when I was sure the suspect we were questioning was lying."

"Was there many craft users in the team back then?"

"All of them. Only up until recent years have we had laymen like Yamada even working in Raven's 13. Seeds are what we get now…though I'm sure if _they_ ever feel the need to, they'll explain more. Matsumoto for example you know is a Clairvoyant. Senna Kano, Kurosaki's former partner was an S class Empath…you're an A class right?"

Seeing her startled look, he chuckled, "Kurosaki told me. And he got his info directly from Mr. Aizen whom I believe knew the person who referred you-?"

"Father Byakuya Kuchiki. He adopted me as a young girl and raised me…he gave me my name. I—I—owe him a lot. But yes it was he whom submitted the formal request to the SCG Administrator for my placement here," she said respectfully. Hitsugaya coasted the black Audi to a neat stop on the gently sloping hill of the parking lot. Trees grew in profusion around the glassy surface of the lake visible between breaks in the greenery.

"Huh. Most of the previous hunters were like that. A close family member referred them. You're lucky, you know," he said as they got off the car, each closing their doors simultaneously. "How so?" she asked going around the side to join him. "_Captain_ Kuchiki is famous in Solomon HQ, both for his exploits and his role as _Craft Master_. Not many people have that kind of influence."

"Oh. I didn't know."

~~~*~~~

"Ugh! My feet are killing me!" Renji groaned as he affected a limp and hobbled over to his favorite station. Hanataro hid a grin when Kurosaki, resplendent in black pants, a black shirt and outer vest snapped out his usual reply, "quit complaining. At least the case fell through…" his cool brown eyes passed over the mostly empty office, not seeing a familiar raven-haired girl.

"Where is…Kuchiki?" he asked slowly. Rangiku whom had arrived without shopping bags in tow, looked up from the desk blotter and Salary sheet, her gray eyes blinking. "Um…Hana said that Rukia and the Chief had headed out to Yotsuga Lake. Something about checking the old crime scene-?" Hanataro nodded, swiveling around in his chair, "Ms. Rukia found that piece of evidence Ms. Senna had found from that case and since no one else was here…Chief Hitsugaya offered to go with her."

Renji whistled, "fancy that. The Chief and Rukia…you know I always thought him a smooth worker. But this—"

Kurosaki's expression tightened, he spun on his heel suddenly, "let's go, Abarai. Matsumoto, you stay here." The blond hunter saluted him smartly, "ay, ay Captain." Renji started up to follow, grabbing his thigh holster from the desktop as he passed by it. "What's gotten into him?" the red head was heard muttering as he was forced to jog after Kurosaki's back.

~~~*~~~

"It was here and…here," Hitsugaya pointed to a particularly empty stretch of a grassy path off the main area. Few people paid attention to them as they'd walked up the gravel-strewn walkways, Rukia's skirt billowing as a soothing breeze blew in from the lake's rippling surface. She knelt down, one knee up to pat the short bristly blades of grass.

"Such a peaceful place," she murmured, looking up to find Hitsugaya's eyes on her. "Yeah," he said unnecessarily, "Senna thought so too. The first murder happened two years ago but several more victims were found later in the surrounding area. Each one in the same condition…it didn't seem as though there was anything connecting them. Not age, status…just the way they all died. Hacked up into pieces," he clarified seeing her puzzled look then she shuddered.

"How horrible…whether it was a witch or just some psychopath…to die in such a way," her gaze dropped down to the ground again, "makes me sad."

Hitsugaya held his hand out to her, "hey. Don't be. After all that's why we're here—to see if we can find anything out to help crack the case." Rukia placed her small hand in his and got to her feet, "I suppose so." She still looked a little doubtful but he tugged her further down the path. As they went through the tree-lined walkway, she glanced to the side; a solitary figure standing across the way at the lakeside seemed to be dropping something colorful into the water.

Rukia pulled away from Hitsugaya, "I—I want to go check on something…I'll meet you back here later." He shrugged, "okay. Guess I'll just go on up by myself…see ya." She waited until he had walked away before she crossed over to the lakeshore. Tiny pebbles skittered beneath her boots heralding her approach, a girl in her mid-twenties looked up.

Gray storm clouds reflected on the water alongside floating paper Lotuses. Rukia glanced at them fascinated by the tiny folds and intricate petals, "do you make these? They're quite lovely," she said smilingly. The girl cradled four more flowers in her stained hands, "why yes. Up at the Church, the Priest uses them on the Altar. He says that to leave them on the water guides the lost souls to their rest." She brushed back a strand of long dark brown hair, "but I just like to see them floating. Don't you think they're so pretty?"

Rukia glanced back at the water and laughed gently, "Yeah they are. By the way I'm Rukia."

"Tsukiko."

"Moon child; what a lovely name!"

"You think so? Yours is pretty too," Tsukiko looked away shyly, "would you like a flower? I have more…the orange are quite lovely. But I think purple would be better…it'll match your eyes!"

~~~*~~~

Nothing. Just as he expected. Hitsugaya paced around the small clearing kicking up dust with his loafers. He checked his wristwatch again, finding it to be 3:34 already. Just where was Rukia? She had said she would be gone only a little while but that had been an hour ago. Despite himself, Hitsugaya began to worry.

He wound back up the path, every once in a while stopping to call her name. He didn't feel odd about this since the Park had emptied out and only his voice carrying on the wind was heard. He glanced around, catching something out of the corner of his eye. A mist, spiraling upward on the lake, patches of white began forming at the edges. The air grazing his cheek suddenly dropped in degrees, freezing the leaf tips, _a craft_! _And not just any Craft…but Rukia's_!

He put on a burst of speed, running as fast as his legs could carry him. From a smaller clearing up ahead the ice seemed to be concentrated more. Whooshing sounds cut the silence of the woods; Hitsugaya threw himself behind the nearest tree and viewed the scene before him with horror. A young woman stood at one end, her long straight hair lifting in the force of her craft, a semicircle outlined in silver was beneath her hiking boots. A square U upside down in the exact center identified the Craft as Uruz…the rune of irresistible force.

Rukia was huddling behind another tree, her field of ice blocking the majority of the opposing power. Scattered blossoms being rent apart at her feet drew Hitsugaya's attention. "Paper flowers," he whispered; the witch slowly turned her head cocked at an odd angle to him. "Did you…crush the flowers too?"

He drew a shaky breath inward before a massive pressure blasted him backward, warmth trickled down his cheek, he patted his fingertips against his face coming away red with blood. "Hitsugaya!" Rukia screamed, an ice wall blossomed upward, shielding him from the witch's sight. From behind the foggy flat surface, shapes moved, the petite raven-haired hunter first forward then shuddering backward as she was repulsed violently by the force.

Her back thudded heavily against the ice she had created, the air currents whistled with the slicing movements controlled by the witch. Black fabric fluttered to the ground as she was being mercilessly hacked at. Hitsugaya back-crawled, his hand searching for the cell phone hooked in his belt. Footsteps, two pairs came up from the path, he half-turned, relief breaking out over his features, "Kurosaki! Thank Gods…Rukia…"

Kurosaki was smoothly withdrawing his gun from its holster. Renji breathing hard flinched when hearing the snapping of the branches and blood spattering the ice, "Oh my…she's—"

"No time," snapped the orange-haired hunter, shielding his face as the ice erupted backward. Hitsugaya buried his face in his hands when the ice crystals had stopped tinkling he looked up. Rukia was on her feet in front of them, various cuts dotted her arms as evinced by the trickling blood running down her shredded sleeves; the witch's power had been temporary halted by ice diamonds freezing the energy in mid-air. At Kurosaki's nod, Renji braced his gun and fired through the frozen field.

Rukia watched a little sadly perhaps as Tsukiko fell to the ground, her power broken. Her gaze swung almost accusingly to Kurosaki, as he stood impassive beside her; almost daring him to chastise her on her use of her craft…

~~~*~~~

As the Factory men loaded the inert witch into the back of a Suv, Kurosaki walked over to Rukia, his tone a little softer than usual when he addressed her, "good work today. I wouldn't have thought a witch's craft could save anyone but now I see I was mistaken." His brown eyes passed over the superficial cuts on her arms and the tiny slice on her forehead; briefly he raised his hand and brushed it tenderly. "Get these looked at," he ordered, something flickering in the chocolate brown…_warmth maybe_?

Just as soon as she'd noted it, it was gone and he'd stalked away to speak with Hitsugaya. Rukia felt her heart speed up a little and her fingers dug into her coat pocket withdrawing a round purple compact, a message lit up on its square screen: _It is here. The seeds of the old ones have been planted in this land too_. She hit send.

~~~To be continued~~~

A/N: Hmm, which chapter should be next? Renji and the Voodoo or Momo and the witch's coven-? You decide! Anyway special thanks to IT Rio for pointing out the part about the Garroting—like I said, terrible way to die…and um well please review!

Note: S-class is the highest level a craft user can attain while an A-class is lower. Seeds are people with strains of the craft in their blood but are unawakened to it.


	5. Chapter 5 Voodoo Moon pt1

Chapter.5: Voodoo moon pt.1

"Hello, young lady. Would you care to dance with me?"

Momo looked up from her trashcan to find a headless bloody chicken dangling in front of her face. "Kyaahh! Renjiii!" she squawked as he made the dead fowl dance a floppy dead chicken dance. Coagulated blood squirted a fine spray across the buttoned front of her jacket; she balled her fists up and thwacked him on the arm.

He backed away laughing, still teasingly flicking a leg in imitation of the Can Can.

"You jerk! Oh…Kurosaki," she said, glancing around the dead chicken and the annoying red head. Renji turned, his expression guilty, "uh…hi. We uh…" The orange-haired lead hunter didn't look impressed; his cold brown eyes surveyed the headless Chicken distastefully and wandered over to the gray metal cans lined up on the curb. "Find anything?" he asked curtly.

Momo dusted her hands off encased in yellow latex gloves, "not much," she answered, vaguely waving off toward a small cardboard box on the cement. "A headless black chicken obviously, some empty envelopes with the insignia of Mitsuo Kobayashi's law office on them…Renji had better luck."

The red head dropped the black fowl back into the rubbish in the can, his gloves stained red at the fingertips, "Madame Vera's famous Hoodoo concoction _Get away_ sachet powder. Dr. Buzzard's Court case oil…Dr. Pryor's Hotfoot sachet powder and oh yeah. You're going to get a kick outta this one!" Renji carefully picked up a small object from the bottom of his box, holding it up with a tissue, "a real Voodoo doll with the victim's name on it."

Kurosaki eyed the rounded head of black wax and tiny barely formed body, "we're going to need Jeagerjaques on this. Voodoo is not one of our specialties. Momo call him up and have him come down to the office."

"Why me?" she looked affronted.

He flicked a glance her way, his mouth curled in a crooked, unpleasant smile, "because _you_ have _his_ number."

Her face flushed. Just then Renji noticed the absence of his regular partner and Kurosaki's. "Hey, where are Rangiku and Rukia?"

"Out shopping. Since Kuchiki ruined some of her clothes the other day, Matsumoto said they needed time to go out and replace them." Kurosaki said with a slight sneer as if such things were beneath him.

~~~*~~~

"A Voodoo doll?! And you touched it!" Grimmjow declared in horrified tones. His teal hair stuck up more than usual from running his fingers through it while he'd talked on the phone with Momo before. She'd been waiting for him in the lobby of the building and rode up with him to the sixth floor, continuing their conversation.

"Renji did. Not me," she said coolly. Her pin tucked white blouse and gray slacks had been spared the headless chicken onslaught, her hazel eyes were focused straight ahead, glaring it seemed at the slower than usual elevator service. "The pineapple head? Why wasn't he with—" Grimmjow began, Momo cut him off, "—Rangiku had a fight with him last night over _dinner_. Us hunters aren't supposed to socialize with each other outside of work but because of what happened with Rukia the other day—"

"Wait—wait. What happened with Rukia _the other day_?"

She sighed, backtracking to the details explained to her by Kurosaki. The silver elevator doors smoothly opened admitting them to the outer hallway and main office where raised voices could be heard. "I know what I saw, Kurosaki! It was a damned—" Renji stopped in the middle of his tirade to see Momo and Grimmjow in the doorway. Kurosaki stood near the coffee pot, his arms crossed; his face scowling. Rukia, dressed in presumably her new clothes, a purple knee-length skirt, runched at the bottom and a peasant style blouse in a lighter shade of violet, was standing behind Hanataro, peering over his shoulder. Rangiku obviously hadn't forgiven her partner for the dinner debacle for she pursed her lips while applying a smooth coat of Pink Majesty to her mouth, looking into a silver compact.

"What's going on?" Momo asked, noting the anger flitting on Renji's face.

"I was just leaving," he said boldly, scooping his jacket off the back of his chair. Rangiku finally looked up, "oh hey, Grimm, Momo. Renji here thought he saw a black dog in the hallway, but Kurosaki who was behind him didn't see anything." She shrugged, "Neither did we."

"Meaning you and Rukia?"

"Yeah."

"Alright…" Grimmjow rubbed his hands together, glancing surreptitiously behind him for a second then back to the five hunters, "show me what you got."

~~~*~~~

"This is Santeria," Grimmjow muttered, after just a brief glance at the objects Momo and Renji had found that morning. "Are you sure?" Kurosaki queried, his brown eyes scrutinizing the teal-haired policeman's face while he spoke. "Yeah, I'm sure. Ever heard of Dr. Buzzard, famous in the States, predominantly the American South with the blacks?"

"But isn't Santeria a South American religion?" Momo leaned forward on the table, her expression curious. "It's all the same thing. The Afro-Magico religious systems of Santeria, Voudon and Palo were taken to the new world with the slaves then adapted to fit other cultures. Some of the Catholic Saints, St. Barbara for instance is equated with Chango, the orisha for love. You're a Catholic aren't you?" Grimmjow demanded to which Momo ducked her head modestly, "Christian for sure but not a Catholic. Sorry but I don't know anything about the Saints."

"Most of Solomon's hunters _are_ Christian," Rukia explained, three heads swiveled to her and Kurosaki nodded, "that's right. Anyone familiar with the Biblical quote: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live?" Grimmjow looked thoughtful, "a bit harsh, no? I mean I don't fancy the idea of there being people out there with these unnatural abilities but…"

"But what?" Kurosaki prompted, his brown eyes glinting malevolently. "—But I don't exactly agree with most of Solomon's principles," Grimmjow finished shooting a challenging glare to his rival. "Well spoken!" Rangiku clapped from her chair on the other side of the room. Sheepishly Renji approached the table, his expression apologetic, "I—well, what do you think of the Voodoo doll? Is it the real thing?"

Grimmjow slid the plastic baggie that the waxen figure had been placed in out from under the empty wrappers of the sachet powders, "Mitsuo Kobayashi," he read, a frown line creasing his broad brow, "who is he?"

~~~*~~~

"Mitsuo Kobayashi, age thirty-four. Litigator for the City of Tokyo in the case brought against Miguel Ayala, diviner and Mystic…with the charge of unlawful business practices and breaking the law. Grimm," Rangiku looked over at him, "is there a law that prohibits fortunetellers from operating?"

The teal-haired Policeman thought a moment, "not that I can think of," he answered carefully. "Article one nine-five," interrupted a male voice from the doorway.

"Chief!" Rangiku cried, halfway standing up from her stool. Hitsugaya sported a tiny white bandage over the cut on his cheek, his turquoise green eyes passed over all the hunters in turn until he landed on Rukia, then his mouth quirked a little in a facsimile of a smile, "I'm fine, Matsumoto. Thank you for your concern. Anyway as I was saying before, article one nine-five prohibits the practice of fortune telling and false prophesizing. Meaning quite simply to open a shop that contains a so-called psychic is against the law."

"How the hell do you know?" Grimmjow asked, a scowl touching his face.

"I called Tosen and asked him," Hitsugaya said nonchalantly, freezing Grimmjow with a slight grin. A shiver went through the policeman's body, his teal eyes going wide. "He also said to tell you to get your ass back to the station…but I told him I had no idea where you were," Hitsugaya's grin widened as he saw the relief break out over Grimm's expression.

"Thank God…I'm saved!"

"With you that's an understatement," Hitsugaya said dryly, Kurosaki shook his head at this, "never mind. Let's just get back to the case at hand. At seven am this morning we received a call from the coroner's office and a tip to check the trashcans belonging to a-we suspect-Santero Priest by the name of Miguel Ayala. The victim laid out in the morgue was positively identified as that of Mitsuo Kobayashi as Rangiku said before, a city Litigator bringing a case against Mr. Ayala."

"So…maybe a motive for murder?" Momo theorized her chin propped up in her hand. "Was he…a seed?" questioned Rukia; Kurosaki glanced toward her and said, "I'm having Hanataro check that out as we speak. But it's safe to assume he might at least have a strain of Pertho in his background. That's why I want you and Momo to drop by his shop…Grimm can you spare the time? I'd like you to go with them, get your fortunes told or something."

Grimmjow shrugged, "alright. I'll go with the girls…you two had better not get me into trouble like that last time," he muttered, casting dark looks around. Momo giggled, batting her lashes at him. "So what'll we do?" Rangiku interrupted, glancing toward her partner. Kurosaki tapped the screen of the computer, putting it on stationary mode, "oh, you have the best job of all."

When he didn't elaborate she prompted, "and what is that?"

"Talking with Mrs. Kobayashi and family. See if Mitsuo had any enemies other than the supernatural kind."

"Marvelous," Rangiku muttered, "but where might you be going, my liege?"

"None of your damn business. But if you must know, I'm going to pick somebody up from the airport," Kurosaki said flippantly, standing up. The others followed his example, Rangiku hesitated, her blond eyebrows rose, "who might that be?"

"Like I said before. None of your damned business," he repeated with a faint smile.

~~~*~~~

"Here we are, Mystical eye down on the back street behind 45th," Momo said, guiding the car to a stop in a narrow parking space between a dusty van and battered truck that had seen better days. Grimmjow glanced out the tinted window of the backseat; his teal eyes narrowing, "looks like one of the barrios from where we used to live."

Rukia turned around in her seat to look at him, "barrio? That's like a Spanish community right? Did you live in Spain or something, before?" Momo cut in before Grimmjow could answer, "he's actually half Japanese. His father was a Spaniard, his mother a widely traveled resident of Japan. They married and lived in some region in Spain for a while before coming back here to settle. His—" she paused and shared a brief nod in acquiescence with him then continuing, "—his sister Airi was born here. Grimm was ten years older than her. She—"

"Was murdered," Grimmjow finished, "kidnapped by a witch during a standoff and died as a result. It was…" he smiled bitterly, "Kurosaki's first case. Tore him up inside when he wasn't able to save her. I don't blame him for what happened. Sometimes I think that maybe if I hadn't let her go by herself that day…"

"It's not your fault."

His teal eyes looked up and met steady violet, "that's what everybody keeps saying."

"It isn't." Rukia reached between the spaces and patted his arm; "believe me."

They shared a brief moment then Grimmjow smiled, "okay how're we going to do this?"

~~~*~~~

He stood beside Rukia on the front step, lifting his fist to rap the metal triangular doorknocker. _A couple_, Momo had decided was the least that attracted attention. And who better to pose as a respective young couple worried about their future than Rukia and him?

Grimmjow chewed his lip nervously, feeling the shorter female at his side, fumbling for his hand. "It's okay, dear," he managed to say before the inner gray screen of the door cracked open revealing a mocha-skinned man wearing spectacles. "I'm sure we'll get a favorable reading."

"Yes? How may I help you?" the man asked politely.

Grimmjow squeezed Rukia's fingers gently, "um we're wondering if maybe you still did Tarot card readings? My girlfriend," he flashed her a grin, "and I would like to know our futures."

The man's expression lightened, "come in! I am known around here as El Elefante. You are?" Rukia stepped forward, remembering the fake names to give, "Ruka Shirabuki. And he is Yagari Kuran."

"Ruka-san and Yagari-kun, come right this way," the man waved toward a room down the hall, dimly lit but for the parted curtains enclosing it and a few candles in burners placed throughout. Rukia took note of the blackened glass of one, reading the name silently, Courtcase. Grimmjow saw and waggled his eyebrows, _Santeria_, he mouthed.

She nodded, taking a seat at the chair Ayala drew for her. "Now which spread would you like? The Celtic cross or perhaps…something more detailed?" he asked, getting right down to business. His pack of cards, she saw were not Rider Waite but rather had different artwork. "The Seventeen card spread, please." Grimmjow glanced at her funny but she paid him no mind. The seventeen-card spread she'd seen once demonstrated by a captured witch who could manipulate the cards.

But now she watched without trepidation as Ayala fanned the deck, mumbling prayers in some indecipherable language. His gnarled brown hands smoothly cut the cards and then began placing them right side up on the table. He scanned them once then sighed heavily, "ay Ruka-san. Witchcraft abounds in this reading." Grimmjow who stood behind her nearly snorted but a glance from her stifled his amusement.

"How so?" she asked, her voice steady.

"The abundance of Swords," he stabbed a crooked index finger down on one. The five of swords, she read as from her vantage point it was upside down. "What does that one mean?" Rukia indicated the five. "Quarrels in the sector of your happiness. It could be that someone," he glanced at Grimmjow explicitly, "has problems with you and may or may not wish to confront them. Also I see a lot of men, authority figures from the looks of it. This one here is an older man like a father figure. A professional, good at what he does but he's also very discriminating and doesn't make friends very easily. Sound like anyone you know?"

Father Byakuya, Rukia thought with a faint smile, "yes. I know who it is. But who is that other King? The King of—cups?"

Ayala studied it for a moment, "A Cancer."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh. I'm sorry, I don't know if you're at all familiar with the astrological signs? Cancer the crab, Gemini the twins?"

"No."

"I see…well this man is cold, uncaring and doesn't nurture others. His emotions are sublimated through loss and…he's very ruthless. Not very nice at all."

Grimmjow shifted, "what are the dates?"

"June 22nd to July 23rd. Though I see him in this reading as having an impact in your future, Ruka-san. Not your present…so perhaps you have yet to meet him."

~~~*~~~

"Who was it?" Rukia asked as she and Grimmjow exited the gate. His lips were curled in a slight smile and had been ever since the King of Cups had appeared in her reading. He shook his head, "nah. I can't tell you." She frowned and entwined her arm through his; Momo passed them on the opposite side of the street, her brown hair loose and she was wearing tinted DK sunglasses. Her blazer had been left in the car, obviously in anticipation of her reading and the fact that on the back of the jacket was printed in faint embroidery: SCG-J.

Grimmjow yawned, casting a glance up at the dusky sky, "say, how about you and I stop over at that little Café across the way and grab a bite while Momo's with Mr. Hoodoo?" Rukia looked up at him exchanging a brief smirk, "that might not be such a bad idea. If _you_ pay." He snorted about to retort something smart when suddenly his eyes were drawn to a solid white Police car cruising slowly up toward them. He went stiff with fright, his teal hair standing up on end.

"I-It's _him_!"

"Huh? Who's—"

"Never mind! Just _move_!" He tugged her arm, averting his face from the street. The swing glass door of the Café was close…she risked a glance back over her shoulder as they went in. The police car had stopped at the curb, the window lowering to reveal a black man wearing wide Aviator shades.

"Kaname Tosen," Grimmjow muttered, pulling her to the counter. "The strictest, despot ruler of the Police force. Unfortunately he's the Police chief and…my boss," he added darkly. Rukia swallowed her smile, Grimm's horror stories of life behind the desk and mountains of paperwork doled out to him by this man were fast becoming the new water cooler in Raven's 13.

Though she had to wonder if he was all that bad or if it was just Grimm and his problems adhering to those men like Kurosaki and Tosen who wielded either power and-or-influence. Hitsugaya had certainly seemed to have no trouble in calling up that man. She glanced out the door, seeing the police car finally pull away. "He's gone," she informed her sweaty companion.

The teal-eyed Policeman twitched, his head dropping onto his chest, "phew! That was close—"

"May I take your order?"

"Huh?" Grimmjow raised his head, recalling just then that they were inside a Café. "Oh…sorry." He narrowed his eyes at the pimply youth behind the counter ogling Rukia. He pulled her a little closer, glaring dangerously, "ahem. _My girlfriend and I_ would like two club specials, _Hoshi_," he read the plastic nametag scathingly.

The boy tore his eyes from the petite hunter, hitting the buttons on the register quickly, "right away, sir!" Grimmjow took out his wallet and flipped a twenty onto the counter, Rukia tried not to show her amusement at Grimm's sudden possessiveness but failing when he all but hauled her to the farthest table from the front. "Little shit," he muttered, sending daggers across the room.

~~~To be continued in pt.2 of Voodoo moon~~~

A/N: I just didn't have the patience to write anymore though it might be a little GrimmRuki-ish. Just like in Chapter 7 it'll be a little UlquiRuki with Ichi getting a jealousy attack. Note: Hotfoot powder is to make people leave such as bad neighbors or something. Get away powder is much the same. Also Madame Vera's products don't exist.


	6. Chapter 6 Voodoo Moon pt2

Chapter.6: Voodoo Moon pt.2

"And so I ended up paying for a card reading, regular past-present-future-layout and a Limpia." Momo detailed to Kurosaki over the cell. The time was half-past three and she was leaning against her car, the de facto lead Hunter had called ten minutes before to question her about any impressions or senses she had picked up with their former suspect.

Former, because as Kurosaki intoned with his usual dryness. The Coroner had called him informing that Mitsuo Kobayashi had died of a dog attack. Simply this and nothing more. It seemed that a neighbor's Rottweiler was roaming the streets and came upon Mitsuo walking the family's cocker Spaniel. A neighbor at the corner, speaking with the Police gave testimony to seeing the dog attack the victim…and well. Kill him.

Momo heard the resignation in Kurosaki's voice, "SCG is pulling out of this. It's obvious from these statements that a witch isn't involved. By the way…where is Jeagerjaques and Kuchiki? You haven't mentioned them at all only to say that they'd gone in ahead of you."

The brunette shot a glance over to the Café window, seeing the missing hunter and Policeman paying their bill. "Across the street," she said, smiling, "they had Lunch together."

It had sounded like an innocuous sentence though immediately when he spoke from the sharp intake of breath and soft hiss, she knew him to be angry. Or angrier than usual, "do they take this as a joke?"

"Excuse me?" her eyebrow quirked up, "Kuro—"

A sharp click and she realized he'd hung up, "—saki?"

"What's going on?" Grimmjow had his arm casually entwined with Rukia's as they walked up. Momo snapped her phone shut, taking the keys from her pocket, "We've been taken off the case. The Coroner has determined cause of death to be from a Rottweiler attack.

"No, shit!" Grimm swore.

"So where do we go now?" Rukia asked, the car lights blinked and then the doors unlocked. "Home, I guess. Kurosaki didn't say anything about—" Momo's phone rang again, she checked the number, seeing it to be Rangiku's.

"Hey, where are you?" frowning she heard the blonde's answer.

"Outside City hall? Why? Oh…you want us to get there? Sure. Be right there!" the brunette hunter opened the drivers side, "Rangiku found something she wants to show us. We' re going to back to Raven's 13. Grimm, you coming?"

He got into the car, "do you really have to ask?"

The girls glanced at each other exchanging humorous grins, "guess not," Momo muttered.

~~~Voodoo Moon pt.2~~~

"Kurosaki called us to say we were off the case, a dog had killed the victim not a witch he said. Well!" Rangiku hesitated dramatically. And her audience, Renji, smirking because he already knew what she was going to say and Grimmjow waiting, Rukia curious and Momo with her arms crossed, prompted, "well?"

"The man two houses down from the Kobayashi residence had a Rottie but about a month ago, _Scooby_, was run over by a truck or something and died. Now no one else we talked to knew of anybody else that had a dog matching the description given to the Police."

"Did you call Kurosaki?"

"No."

"Why not? It's obvious there's something else going on here. Unless it wasn't a neighbor's dog—" Momo paused, observing the familiar pursed lips of the Clairvoyant. "What? There's something else, isn't there? I'm right aren't I?"

Rangiku looked down at her folded hands, "Renji…well that dog he saw…this morning, remember? It was—he said it was black and big and had a particular star-shaped brown patch on its head. Now the dog seen by the witness and whom was asked to describe any identifiable characteristics about it. Said one thing…it had a brown star-shaped patch on its head."

~~~Voodoo Moon pt.2~~~

The office was silent following Rangiku's ominous statement. Even Hanataro on the other side of the room had halted his typing. "You know…" he spoke up tentatively, "some witches…have familiars. Spirit animals that do the Master's bidding…there was a case back in the days when it was Ms. Neliel here and it involved a Totem spirit displaced at a Shrine in Yogawa. A Priestess there became possessed and an exorcism was needed to expel the attached spirit. Maybe," he continued on after seeing he had their attention, "the witness did see an animal, just as Renji did. But instead of a physical body it was a spirit."

Rangiku ran her fingers through her hair, "maybe. So then is it…our original suspect? Kurosaki was disinclined to think much of the Santeria items Grimmjow identified. Mitsuo Kobayashi was bringing a case against that man…Rukia," she glanced over at the petite silent hunter, "hypothesized that could have been a motive for murder. And if you think about…it sort of makes sense."

Momo nodded thoughtfully, "hey I just remembered, what was it you had found at City hall?" Rangiku dug in her coat pocket, "this might cement your opinions on the matter. Our Litigator brought four separate lawsuits against Mystical Eye and its proprietor in a four-year span. This would have marked the fifth and probably last time Kobayashi could hope to get a conviction. It almost seems like a vendetta…trying to ruin someone's life like that," she shook her head, "I can't imagine why though."

Grimmjow studied the paper with scribbled dates and overruled convictions, "going after a Santero…that's risky business. Even for a nonbeliever."

"So are we going to tell Kurosaki?" Momo piped up. Rangiku took the paper from Grimm, flashing it to Rukia. "No, she said finally folding it up and replacing it back in her pocket. "For now we're going to go our separate ways. Tomorrow maybe Renji and I can find an excuse to scope the area around the suspect's place."

The hunters parted ways at the doors. Momo driving Rukia back to her apartment and dropping Grimmjow off at the station. Rangiku trotted off to her Sedan, claiming the drivers seat before her partner reached it. "Aww man! How come I can't take the wheel?" Renji whined, slamming the passengers' side door shut.

"Quit complaining. The Chief's started in on our gas usage again…and I'm the one who has to deal with him," Rangiku muttered grimly, she inserted the key and started the engine. The car lights bounced in an arc over the cement walls, illuminating for an instant a vague half-defined shape of an animal…standing near the opening of the underground parking lot. It watched them as the Sedan pulled out, leaving it to hulk in darkness.

~~~Voodoo Moon pt.2~~~

Renji lived on a quiet block filled with brick lined townhouse fronts. A better part of Tokyo closer to the outskirts than most. Rangiku had been quiet during the ride, only punctuating the comfortable silence between them with vague comments about what her suspicions were about their case. If and when Kurosaki found out about it before they had any definite proof…they could always appeal to the Administrator for permission to continue investigating.

Renji had added a minute amount to this so that it almost seemed like a one-sided conversation. She pulled up at the curb and he got off under the metal streetlight, quaint in its old-world charm. The sky was darkening and indeed Rangiku saw why, it was nearly six o'clock. She wished her partner goodnight and waited until he had disappeared under the curlicue eaves and unlocked his door, going inside.

Rangiku sat a moment, leaning on the steering wheel, her eyes closing sleepily. It had been a tiring day. Made even more so by Kurosaki's decision to abandon the case. She knew there was more to it than a simple dog mauling, her instincts told her that much. But then why—

A man's scream echoed loudly outside the car windows. Rangiku jolted upright, recognizing her partner's infamous screech. She grabbed her phone, hitting speed dial and yanking her door open. She put her feet on the pavement and began running. "Renji?" she scrambled up the three steps, hitting the front door with her fist, in the other she clutched her phone. Momo answered on the second ring, her soft voice coming through, "Rangiku? Why'd you use—"

"Something's happening! Get over here as fast as you can!" Rangiku yelled into the mouthpiece, she snapped the phone shut, withdrawing her gun from its holster. The door she pushed open, the room she entered silent now except for the faint sound of heavy breathing coming from the adjoining room. The Kitchen and farther back a curved staircase where upon a dark shape, small and growling crouched up the first steps.

Rangiku cocked the safety off, peering around the open doorway. The shape—_what was it_? The overhead circular lamp fixture above the kitchen was on, its light path fell a good way. As her eyes adjusted she drew breath in, sharply. A thud hit a part of the higher stair and Renji's red head peered over the high banister.

Rangiku! Be careful—the dog-!" he warned. She leveled the gun, her eyes widening in realization. The mellifluous shape grew form and became to her startled gaze the dimensions of a dog. Black, big with massive muscled legs and drooling jaws, the eyes were tiny and red glinting malevolently as it came down from the stairs. Blood droplets marked the treads and she felt sick. Renji must've been bitten.

She locked eyes with the infernal canine. A second passed and then it charged. Nails scraping the floor as the muscled body came pounding across the tile towards her. Rangiku fell back, shooting once, twice, her gun discharging the bullets that shattered against the opposite wall. They had gone through it like smoke. It was almost upon her, a door banged open loudly and several pairs of footsteps pounded. Someone cried out her name; "Rangiku!"

_Renji_, she thought.

Ice exploded like glittering daggers before her. Great chunks skittered, leaving behind a watery glaze and then four more shots rang out. Rangiku turned, Momo, her gun held out before her, smoking slightly. Rukia, her violet eyes fearful but her expression calm was clenching her fists at her sides, her field of Isa illuminated beneath her feet. Grimmjow was there too. He was in a state of disbelief, his service pistol held loosely in his hand.

The dog had disappeared.

Rangiku turned to see Renji limping across the floor to them, his feet in socks and red staining them. "Now do you believe me?" he asked with wry amusement, grimacing somewhat in pain.

~~~To be continued in pt.3~~~

A/N: hmm, shorter than usual but eh I'll do the conclusion faster that way. :) Please review.


	7. Chapter 7 Voodoo Moon conclusion

A/N: dedicated to Megumi-chan because you bothered for an update :) thank you and enjoy.

Chapter.7: Voodoo Moon conclusion.

"A dog—I'd swear I saw it right there," Grimmjow shakily pointed to the spot where the ice was beginning to melt and spent bullet cases had landed. Renji looked vindicated from the chair he sat in, a white bandage on his leg. Rangiku was at the stairs, shaking her head, "I just don't understand it. When I first saw it, it was almost like a dark mist about so high and so large. Then as I continued looking at it, it took the exact form of a black Rottweiler. Yet Grimm saw, but Momo and Rukia didn't."

Momo uneasily shifted, "it wasn't that I didn't see it. It was more like a vague shape barreling toward you and I just…shot at it." Rukia walked around the center kitchen island, she stopped, seeing the spilled jar of coffee creamer and four perfect canine paw prints imprinted in the sandy powder. "Well it's obvious that it wasn't an—" she began then paused as the doorbell rang.

"Kurosaki," muttered Rangiku and she left to go answer it. Four minutes later, grumbling and seemingly in ill humor the orange-haired lead hunter stalked in the kitchen, a tall buxom woman following him. Rangiku closed the front door and then entered behind them. Rukia took in the sight of the stranger, shoulder-length copper colored hair, charcoal gray eyes to rival the Clairvoyant's. Short bangs framing a pretty face and clothed in a beaded teal skirt with overlying see-through black lace, a teal sweetheart neckline halter-top and wedge heels. It was obvious Kurosaki had been out on a date.

"Who are you?" Rukia asked, dismayed to discover her tone hostile sounding. Three of the four hunters looked at her curiously then Rangiku laughed shortly, "oh! Her? This is your roommate, Orihime Inoue. Remember she was out of town when you arrived?" The girl, now introduced as Orihime, smiled, coming forward, "you must be Rukia Kuchiki, Kurosaki-kun's new partner."

Biting her lip, Rukia took the hand Orihime proffered her. "Yeah…I'm glad to finally meet you, Orihime." The girl smiled happily, obviously pleased while with trepidation, Rukia noticed Kurosaki watching her reaction covertly. Resolutely she forced her mind back to the matter at hand. "Do you still insist that there's nothing more to this case, when now more than one person actually saw the black dog?"

Kurosaki sighed and took a look at the paw prints in the creamer, "you don't _have_ a dog, right?" Renji had gotten up but now he looked affronted, "of course not!" Rangiku peered over the counter as Kurosaki knelt at the edge of the spill, his gloved fingers pinching something up. "Whatcha got there?" Grimmjow asked when he came around.

"Hair. A single black dog hair with what looks like…a tiny clump of dirt stuck to it."

~~~*~~~

Graveyard dust…it's a hexing agent but also used in resurrection spells," Grimm confirmed as the test results came back positive with Cayenne pepper remnants and Asafetida powder. "So now it's back to Hoodoo or Voudon…or whatever the hell it's called!" Kurosaki snapped, he got up from the desk and stalked around the office, throwing vicious glares at Renji as he passed by.

"Santeria, actually." Grimmjow calmly corrected. Renji approached the abandoned desk where the computer screen flashed the results. "Are we dealing with a Santero then?" he asked cheerfully, noting the gloom descending down and casting a pall perhaps more so because of Kurosaki's presence. Hanataro was typing slowly a report to the factory; Hitsugaya had taken a late lunch and was gone. Ishida was skulking quietly at the other end of the office, pretending to be sorting files but was really keeping an eye on them. And the girls…well they were on a forced stakeout across from Mystical eye, reporting back every half hour to say, no change.

Grimmjow yawned, stretching, putting his hands behind his head, "Santeria and a priest who's skilled at what he does. Learned in the dark arts obviously. I don't know how we're going to counteract this." The phone rang just as he finished speaking, Hanataro who was closest to the main line picked it up, "hello? Oh—Ms. Rangiku…he's moving? Now? You want—who? Oh, Grimmjow and Renji to follow you and Kurosaki to—sorry. Renji to go with you and Grimmjow and Kurosaki to check out the place? Okay, I'll tell them. Take care."

Hanataro turned to the waiting men, "Ms. Rangiku says that the suspect is leaving the area, she thinks he might go into the mountains and she wants Renji to take the motorcycle and follow them while—"

"Me and—Jeagerjaques check out the empty house," Kurosaki finished.

Grimm noted the tight expression on his rival's face, "I'm not so hot on the idea either…_Kurosaki-kun_. But we'd better do as the lady says." That earned him a glare, which he shook off, smirking. Renji got the coordinates from Hanataro and slid his jacket on, hiding his holster. He left them, still glaring at each other as he jiggled the keys to a refurbished Harley parked surreptitiously in a corner in the underground parking garage.

He kick-started the engine, swinging his leg over the seat and roared off into the evening twilight.

~~~*~~~

"I wonder how far he's going," Momo wondered aloud. She sat in the back seat of the gray Sedan with Rukia. Rangiku was in the drivers seat and next to her was a gathered box of various items used to combat Hoodoo in all its forms. From a pewter pentacle on a thin box chain to a braided cord with seven colors woven in representing the Seven African powers. Who knew Grimm had such a collection to lend the hunters? Certainly not them.

The car was crawling slowly, a goodly amount of space between them and the van. Momo tangled her fingers in the Maltese cross she'd chosen from the box, lifting it up and then dropping it back down on her chest. Rukia was studying her face in the scant sunlight coming in from the window, her hand cupping a tiny purple compact.

"Hey let me—"

"I see Renji!" Rangiku said sharply, Momo sat up and twisted around in her seat, trying to see out the back window, "where? Oh yeah…and he looks pleased as a peacock to finally have the excuse to ride the Harley," she remarked snidely. Rukia upon hearing this snapped the compact shut, dropping it into her coat pocket. A roar of an engine rattled their windows and the red head pulled up in the left lane.

"Yo," he greeted as Momo rolled her window down. Rangiku guided the wheel smoothly, turning the sedan through the curve in the road. The Motorcycle stayed back, making conversation nearly impossible until the road evened out. Few other cars passed them going the opposite way. Eventually Renji pulled up and maintained pace with the girls' car.

"How come you wanted Kurosaki to check out the voodoo guy's house?" he yelled over the engine's roar. The wind whipped Momo's hair into her face and irritated she pushed it away, "I can't hear you!" Rangiku threw a meaningful glance at them; indicating in no uncertain terms for them to cut their talk short. She took a hand off the wheel and made a shooing motion, perpetuating her partner's hasty grin and then slowly easing up to stay behind them.

The road kept on and so did the van they were tailing. Where and when it would stop none of the hunters knew.

~~~*~~~

Kurosaki eyed the setting sun, cursing silently on Rangiku's instructions for him and Grimmjow to check out the abandoned Mystical eye. After all, this was one man whom he couldn't stand and he suspected the itinerant Police officer felt the same. He glided his black BMW into a vacant spot in front of the house, cutting off the low rumbling of the engine, he glanced over at Grimmjow, steeling his nerves to be polite yet finding the man, stiffening and staring straight at a tree in the adjoining yard.

"Did you see something?"

Grimmjow's teal eyes were the size of saucers, "it's a—a-Lechuza!"

"A what?" Kurosaki grumpily leaned over, peering up gamily through the evening dusk to see nothing there. Just a few branches rustling. "A Lechuza!" Grimmjow insisted, obviously terrified by whatever he thought he saw. "Speak Japanese, man." Kurosaki muttered, throwing his door open. He heard the snap of the seatbelt unlatching and stalked forward, unheeding of the gate.

Grimmjow took his eyes off the tree in question long enough to realize he was being left behind. "Hey wait up!" he cried, scrambling from the car, slamming the door shut loudly. Kurosaki sent a mild glance of chagrined ill-humor to his much beloved vehicle, "could you watch what you mistreat with those ogre hands of yours?"

For once the insult bounced off the teal-haired policeman and he wiped his sweating hands on his pants, the black SCG jacket swung open to reveal him wearing a shoulder holster and loaded Orbo gun. Kurosaki didn't comment but his expression tightened, he pushed the gate open, his gloved hand going for his own gun. A bird twittered far off in the distance and Grimmjow jerked around, his eyes shifting uneasily.

The front door of course, was locked. But as Kurosaki searched beneath a potted Geranium, he came up with a slender bronze key. "Ever the wary homeowner," he muttered, inserting it in and hearing the lock grate satisfactorily; it creaked open. He swept in, Grimmjow hanging back, all the while glancing about his stance suggesting nervous tension.

"Hurry up and shut the door!" Kurosaki hissed; his progress impeded by the reluctant policeman. When the front door was finally closed and Grimmjow stood in the shadowed entry way did Kurosaki search for the light switch. Flipping it once, nothing happened. He inhaled sharply, "Dammit all." Swearing some more and fumbling with a lighter dug out from his pocket, he lit two white tapers stuck in a tarnished candelabrum. His cold amber eyes surveyed his shaking partner, and then sighed heavily to himself, "guess I'll just carry it myself."

The floorboards creaked and groaned under their combined weight. Grimmjow inching closer until he was nearly at the orange-haired hunter's back; only when Kurosaki came to an abrupt halt before a smaller pad-locked door and Grimmjow almost slammed into him, did he mutter angrily, "back the fuck off." He switched the candelabrum to his other hand and tried rattling the knob.

"This is probably where he performs his rituals," Grimmjow said, moving a few feet away as Kurosaki demanded he do. The lit candles lent an eerie glow to the room and the deck of Tarot cards on the table. Kurosaki kicked the door savagely, the old wood however withstood this and he assaulted it again. The candelabrum shaking with each impact, panting, Kurosaki stepped away. "You try," he commanded, going over to the table and setting the candles down. His gun he'd left in its holster though he kept it at the ready, Grimmjow paused to roll his sleeves up, "okay, just don't be complaining later on how unmanly I am when you couldn't even break down a simple door."

Kurosaki ignored the jibe and instead touched the pack of cards, causing them to fan out on the table. A snapping sound broke his concentration and he looked up as Grimmjow finished busting the door with a hard kick and application of his broad shoulder. Wood fragments littered the floor and Kurosaki crossed these, holding the candelabrum aloft. A short flight of stairs descended into what was most likely the basement, living darkness seemed to emanate from within.

Shaking his head, he indicted he should go first. Grimmjow of course didn't argue. Hell if the big bad monster was waiting down there then it could get the bastard Strawberry hunter first, or so Grimmjow figured. The wood of the stairs creaked mildly but held as they neared the bottom, the spindly railing gave out and collapsed in a termite-eaten heap. The resounding crash echoed loudly in the absolute silence of the house and he started violently.

Kurosaki stayed calm and reached the bottom slower than usual. The candlelight reflected back to them off of rows of glass jars filled with blackened dead things. Viscous jells tainted sickly colors held dried herbs, wax figures partially melted sat on chipped plates. The entire room had a rancid, sour odor that wasn't pleasing to the nostrils at all. Grimmjow covered his mouth, trying not to gag while Kurosaki approached the single table set in the center. Four candles in glass sleeves were arranged around a skeletal figure holding a scythe.

"The Holy death," Grimm said, taking a few cautionary steps closer. Bowls of offerings were grouped on smaller pedestals; melon seeds, sprays of millet and the like were placed within proximity to the statue. Kurosaki went to the other side, lifting up an empty plain glass sleeve, darkened from the round rim to midway. A scrap of paper fluttered down to the floor, using the meager light he mouthed the words, "all those who oppose me."

Setting it back down on the shelf, his eye caught a glimpse of something a little bit behind a carved soapstone box. Grimmjow hissed when he held it up; it was a stuffed owl, miniature and amber eyed. "Look familiar at all?" Kurosaki asked, then a shrill beep interrupted him. Grimm flinched and turned away, going to the opposite side of the room, his hands running through his hair agitatedly. Kurosaki replaced the poppet, reaching for his phone.

"Yeah? Oh, anything happen yet? No? Ah…you're going after him on foot. Be careful then—have Hanataro call the Factory? So soon? Right. Okay…see you later then. Bye." He hung up, responding to Grimmjow's worried look from across the room, "The suspect left his vehicle and headed into the woods. Rangiku and the others are going in pursuit. I don't know how this is—" he stopped as a shrill shriek erupted from the dark stairwell.

Both men swiveled, staring at the warped wooden steps where tiny tappings sounded. A single brown spotted feather fluttered down, Kurosaki had left the candelabrum on the table but now he pulled out a slim silver flashlight, holding the beam steady on the feather. "Your gun. Get it out," he whispered. The dirt floor emitted poufs of dust as Grimmjow stirred, complying silently. Above them, the ceiling where on the top was the floor of the room they'd exited, floorboards shifted as chattering sounds floated down to them.

The door banged shut with a resounding slam and the gust of air from the force blew through the stairwell, blowing out the candles. Kurosaki breathed in sharply, his single flashlight the only thing from keeping them being in total darkness. Grimmjow sweated, his fear palpable yet tried to still hold the small gun steady. Seconds, minutes passed and nothing came from the absolute blackness surrounding them. Kurosaki began to relax his hold and the flashlight beam started to lower then with an abrupt suddenness, the frantic sound of wings beating echoed in the focused beam and what made this ungodly noise showed itself.

Brown feathers and unblinking amber eyes screeched raucously at them. Grimmjow, unable to hold his own scream in, fired wildly. Kurosaki dropped the flashlight with a curse and pulled his gun out, wings took flight in the concealing darkness and more gunshots rang out.

~~~*~~~

"Stay close together now," Rangiku muttered warningly as they disembarked from the sedan. Up ahead in the fading daylight, the old van sat idling away, its driver long gone into the dense trees lining the mountainous road. Renji loaded his gun, de-pressurizing the liquid filled bullets and unlocking the safety. Momo did the same, unzipping her blazer and rechecking the gun, the Maltese cross lay conspicuously against the black of her blouse. Rukia, in clothing definitely more suitable for a hunt, black jeans, ankle side-zipper boots, and a mock turtleneck, forgoing a cross, she chose instead, a braided cord with a brown seed hanging from it. A buckeye or so Renji smartly informed her.

Rangiku had draped several of the pendants around her neck and now they swung threateningly off of her ample bosom, "let's go. We have a lot of ground to cover." Single file they stepped off the road and over the metal guardrail, the ground soon gave way to bumpy little hills and uneven areas of crackling twigs and disintegrating leaves. Twice, Rangiku checked her cell, marking the path they were on via satellite and GPS technology. They hadn't much of a way of discerning where the man had gone, though they curved back once around a fallen tree and took another that seemed more promising.

Sounds of the approaching night hastened their steps and it was clear this was going to be a night battle. Renji suddenly flung out his arm, bidding them to stop; from up ahead in a break in the trees, they glimpsed a tiny fire being built and shadowy shapes congregating on the edges. Creeping up slowly, to the nearest beech trees and peering around silently, they found themselves up against an army of creatures. The farthest, being closer to its master, was the brown and black Rottweiler. Jaws agape and panting as slick reddened teeth flashed eerily toward them. Small spider monkeys chattered amongst themselves, their beady almost human eyes, glowing a hellish red. In the trees, owls swooped down into the clearing, their medley of feathers adding to the general disarray of the scene.

"We can't take them all," Rangiku hissed to Renji, whom had taken her side, and peered just as worriedly over her shoulder at the infernal hoard. Momo parted a tiny branch and counted silently, turning back to them, ticking her fingers off, _thirty_, which meant ten each if one of them focused on the witch separately. Renji shrugged, meaning he'd take care of the witch if the rest would keep the creatures away. Rangiku rolled her eyes, huffing angrily. He tried appealing to her but she wouldn't listen, knowing full well Rukia and Momo couldn't take the thirty animals by themselves.

Finally she made a motion with her hand, causing the two girls to sidle over to their tree. "Okay, here's the plan. I will assist you two in distracting the animals, shoot them—do whatever it takes to keep them from getting to Renji while he dispatches the witch. Got it?"

"So we're sure he's our suspect?" Momo whispered back. Rangiku looked at her steadily then turned to Rukia, "if we were hunting an innocent then so help us God. But if not well then…"

"It's better not to question it." Renji interrupted, he glanced into the clearing and heard soft chanting begin; "we'd better hurry." He grinned faintly then smacked Rangiku's fist with his own. "Careful partner." He said seriously. She cocked her gun in response, "you too, pineapple head."

Momo drew her gun, took a breath and briefly smiled at Rukia, the craft user understood and nodded. The three women plunged into the clearing firing off at the smaller creatures while Renji snuck off to the side, leveling his pistol and shooting twice at the old man.

~~~*~~~

Glass bullets ricocheted off the tree trunks exploding in fitful screeches of breaking glass. The owls abandoned their tree perches in favor of swooping low into the hunters' faces. Rukia stopped them with summoned ice, freezing some of the birds in the air while others plummeted into the blazing fire. Momo kicked her heel back into the salivating mouth of a golden spider monkey, her gun discharging into the snarling face of another. Rangiku ducked a diving pigeon, swinging her fist back; she caught it, smacking the feathered body hard. Only then did it crumple to the ground.

Renji stared over the barrel of his smoking gun to the slack face of the Santero priest. Spirits it seemed had claimed his body for the bullets had merely shattered harmlessly onto his white robes. Wrinkled eyelids opened and glassy eyes crossed then shot to either corner, making mockery of life itself. "Uh, Rangiku…" the red headed hunter muttered, backing away slowly. Still in the fracas of biting, scratching screeching animals, Rangiku didn't take kindly to his failure.

"What're you standing—oh shit! RUN!!!"

"Huh?" He collapsed suddenly under the weight of a massive growling mass of black fur and muscle. Rangiku screamed but was unable to help him as a furry monkey wrapped around her pants leg and began biting, she fell to the ground, her gloves tearing at the fingers from the razor sharp teeth nipping her. Renji flipped over the snarling dog, propping the gaping maw away from his face by clenching his fist on the throat and wrenching it sideways. Veins stretched and ripped through the fragile tissue, Momo appeared suddenly at his side, grabbing the hind legs and yanking them toward her.

The dog yelped, bones breaking and as she held onto fistfuls of straining skin, her gun and a single shot left. Her finger curled around the curve of the trigger and pressed the open barrel onto the creature's side, the breath of release and snap of an empty chamber spinning punctuated its final frenzied howls. Rangiku with the clawing, screeching thing on her leg, slammed her fists into it, until she ripped the head with mouthful of grinning teeth back and flicked a Swiss Army knife from her boot, delivering a perfect slice to the furry throat. Instead of blood gushing from the bullet wound and slit neck, the creatures became nothing but black sand.

Momo jerked back with a cry, a pile of dust was all that remained of the canine. The three hunters turned simultaneously to the only one still standing, Rukia breathless but unharmed except for a rip across the knee of her right leg, and a dome of ice crystals freezing the other animals. Yet as everyone looked closely, piles of black sand lay beneath the shimmering frigid domes.

The Santero priest was gone.

Gone in a puff of cinders.

~~~*~~~

Back at Mystical eye, Grimmjow dragged Kurosaki across the porch of the house, a raging inferno inside. Black plumes of smoke rose up in accusing jabs at the darkened sky and rising moon.

Farther down the street, sirens blared as the fire department had been called.

~~~*~~~

"Good Gods! Rangiku, what the hell happened to you!?" Hitsugaya looked up from his desk to see the troupe of bedraggled hunters trailing in. Grimmjow brought up the rear, with ashes spiking his teal hair and black smudges on his pants. Kurosaki had his left wrist folded against his stomach, dried blood on the palm and rips in his black attire. Renji was leaning on Rangiku as they hobbled in, his ankle dragging just the tiniest bit. Momo was the one holding the door open and came in last behind Rukia; she seemed the least hurt, with only superficial cuts and scrapes to her cheeks and hands.

"Matsumoto?"

"What happened to _Rangiku_, chief?" the Clairvoyant smiled coyly, leading her partner to the nearest chair. Hitsugaya ignored the blonde's jibe and turned to Kurosaki, "just what the hell happened out there tonight? The factory called an hour ago to say that they didn't find anything where you guys had specified—and," he crossed his arms, taking in the sight of their assorted bandages, "you received triage care from paramedics on site."

The hunters exchanged looks, no one wanting to explain the particularities of the night. Kurosaki finally clenching his fist experimentally, said, "let's just say, Hitsugaya. We came, we saw and we didn't understand a damn thing. Whether it was simply a witch with minor powers who sacrificed and called on dark gods to bring about the destruction of enemies—or—all whom opposed him. We'll never know," he shook his head, "the fire destroyed the evidence me and Jeagerjaques found and then the witch's body disappeared once that was started…so no. We have nothing. Just the pain of a few scrapes and cuts from tussling with things not of this world."

"I'm going to pretend I understood all of what you just said," Hitsugaya sighed after a quiet while, "go on home everybody. I'll make the report to the Administrator and the factory." Relief was an understatement to the hunters but as Renji tried to stand up, he dropped back down into the chair, groaning in frustration.

"If you tussled with creatures not of this world, then why is Abarai moaning and groaning?"

Kurosaki grinned and everyone looked instantly chilled, "because the idiot fell in a natural dip in the forest as they were leaving and twisted his ankle."

"Ah…that sounds exactly like him," Hitsugaya hypothesized. Renji looked visibly offended and Rangiku chuckled, obviously agreeing with him.

~~~To be continued~~~

A/N: was it weird? Apologies D: ahem…Lechuza: is an owl but in some Hispanic cultures is thought to be a witch in disguise. Note: in Voodoo moon chapter.5 when Renji touched the voodoo doll he unknowingly set the dog familiar after him. Later on in this chapter when the owl attacks Kurosaki and Grimm, it's because they were trespassing in the ritual room.-) hmm…please review.


	8. Chapter 8 Secrets

Chapter.8: Secrets

Words flashed on the tiny screen: _Church of the Holy Sepulcher downtown Tokyo_. Rukia scarcely blinked, closing the compact and standing up, she silently exited the meeting room. Hanataro glanced at her retreating back and Kurosaki's expressionless face. "Shouldn't you be inquiring as to where she's going?" he tentatively asked.

The lead hunter's brown eyes rolled up from the paper he was reading then back down to the newsprint, "Kuchiki is more than able to take care of herself. She's a craft user after all." He dryly added, "not a normal human."

The clock ticked and Hanataro quietly resumed his usual typing; _in a way he was right_. _But did that mean he viewed her the way he had Senna_? Uncomfortably half an hour slid by, Kurosaki occasionally turned the pages of the paper, pausing every now and then to peruse a certain article. From the partition across the way, their Chief muttered over expense reports, demanding a refill of tea often from the hovering bespectacled assistant lurking over his shoulder.

It was a slow day undoubtedly.

Without the presences of either the usually bubbly Rangiku, or Renji since he'd managed to cry off a single day's rest in sympathy to his hurt ankle…Momo had stayed at home also, leaving a voice message about relatives dropping in to visit. The caseload wasn't heavy as to deem sending out the reluctant hunters, even though Rukia was_ supposed _to be Kurosaki's partner…

Hanataro jolted when the newspaper was slammed onto the desk near his elbow. Frightened, he looked up to see Kurosaki stretching, his black vest buttoned over the turtleneck and slacks. The lead hunter lazily glanced at the clock and frowned, displeasure highlighting itself on his tanned face. Calmly as coolly he could be, he strolled toward the office door, passing Ishida with a tray of tea things. Hanataro peeked over the flat screen of his computer as Kurosaki went out; biting in a snicker _for as to where he was going was obvious_.

~~~*~~~

The silence in the Church was absolute. Her footsteps echoed loudly, disturbingly in the reverent quiet. The pews were all empty save for one mid-center, the black hair of a man and rigid poise as she neared him coming up the carpeted aisle, left no doubt in her mind as to his identity.

"Father Byakuya," she spoke softly, dropping down at the end of the wooden pew, her knees sinking onto the very edge of the stone floor where it met the crimson material. The man didn't acknowledge her; his slate gray eyes were focused on the tall cross above the altar, in his long-fingered hands, a silver chain dangled.

"Rukia," he finally said. He wore the uniform of his station, a black long sleeved dress shirt and hip-length jerkin of a stiffer material than the silk. Plain slacks, his feet in narrow black oxfords, encased his slim legs. In short, a very elegant man; though she knew he would've laughed at her foolishness, she couldn't help but be in awe of his presence.

_Influence_.

The Chief's words filtered through her mind as Byakuya beckoned her to take a seat beside him. In a peaceful quiet, they sat. Rukia had her hands folded on her lap; her eyes didn't stray to him once. Briefly she considered questioning his reasons for being in Tokyo but then knew he'd get to the point soon enough. Byakuya Kuchiki was a man of few words.

Indeed this was so for he asked in a rumbling baritone, "how are you finding the SCG team?" This was no ordinary question so she opened her mouth twice before selecting a suitable answer; "they conduct things differently from HQ."

Byakuya nodded, expecting this, "Aizen doesn't always follow Solomon's teachings. He can be a problem." Then almost pensively he murmured, "You know your duty right? Your reason for being placed here?"

"Yes. First and foremost my obligation is to HQ and fulfill any and all orders given to me," Rukia turned to him for the first time and tried meeting his eyes, "under pain of death should I fail…Byakuya."

He avoided her, instead lowering his gaze to his closed fist, "good. Then I will leave you this." One side of the Church's double doors opened, shedding sunlight into the gloomy place of worship. Byakuya glanced back, amusement flickering his gray eyes, "I must be going, Rukia. One of _them_ is here." As he passed her, his hand brushed hers and it wasn't until Byakuya had disappeared in a side door off the last pews and Kurosaki's tall form slouched up, did she peek into her palm.

A red stone lay there. Oval and pointed at top and bottom, a crisscross of silver work joined at the vail to slide on the faceted rope chain curled against her sweating skin. "What're you doing here, Kuchiki?" Kurosaki asked, scowling when she didn't answer.

She turned and looked up into his frowning face and halo of bright orange hair, knowing to tell the truth would be placing her mission in danger. "Praying." She said simply, standing up, the long folds of her old black dress falling into place. Kurosaki raised an eyebrow, "I can see that." He clutched his cell at his side as she did the same; hiding the pendant Byakuya had given her.

"How did you find me?"

"GPS tracking from your phone," he answered, stiffly pivoting around and striding toward the doors. Rukia followed him more slowly, "really? I didn't know it had that feature."

"Yeah…it does." He waited for her to catch up and made a bridge for her to duck beneath his arm out into the sunny day. Rukia hid a secret smile, knowing that he was lying for she had left her cell locked in the drawer in her terminal back at the office…

~~~To be continued~~~

A/N: an in-between chapter for seven and nine. :) It was meant to be short…and with a little IchiRuki-ness since I agree with White moon, Orihime shouldn't interfere :( but as in WHR, Amon was dating Touko…ahem anyhow, please review and yeah I am doing CH.9 already.


	9. Chapter 9 Trail

A/N: dedicated to Hekka. Enjoy.

Witch CH.9

The dimmed lighting shone on several museum cases of interest to those touring Solomon's archival Hall. Objects associated with the Salem Witch trials, among others reposed on onyx stands behind glass cubes. Surveillance cameras followed the steps of one man, black hair crisp, unruly as ever in spiky waves upon his head, blue eyes paused in reposed observance on the black titanium dial of his watch, a sigh escaped his lips, then affixed his gaze firmly on the ancient artifact before him.

A Defixio, in as perfect condition as could be expected from something of that nature; it had been recovered as one of many such curse tablets from beneath and around the Coliseum in Rome. Punctured holes caused by blunt nails, pierced the broad, flat surface. The man smiled a little, wondering if in fact the curse had ever taken effect upon the victim. Footsteps echoed lightly behind him, approaching slowly with a measured gait, came the very same man to whom Rukia had spoken with the day before.

"Captain Kuchiki," addressed the other, respect tempering his sentence, "I take it your flight took longer than expected?"

"Indeed. Things could not have gone so foully as they very well did when I was there." The Craft Master spoke somberly. "Oh?" Kaien expressed mild surprise, "was Rukia all right?" Casting a furtive glance into the stoic man's countenance and seeing the frigidity visible in the slate gray eyes, he deduced something immediately wrong.

"Is there—"

"No. The orders given to her are being cared out as we speak. I'm merely bothered about the interference of those under Aizen's command. The boy-Kurosaki could be a problem."

"He already is." Kaien said wisely, "the Kano family in particular aren't the only ones with a vendetta against him, and it's no wonder! Following that man's every whim, adhering to practices not properly authorized by HQ." He shook his head, "he's nothing like his mother."

"She was under my tutelage in the early days. It's pity about what happened," Byakuya spoke timely, reminiscently. He glanced at the display, his stern mouth turning in. Kaien took the hint, casually strolling a few cases down to stop before a tiny sign describing the glories of Italy's ancient ruling family, the Visconti-Sforza clan. Inside on a slender stand of black titanium was a Tarot card, the number sixteen, The Tower. Two cards in fact had been lacking in the deck commissioned to celebrate the marriage of one of the Sforza men, the survival of the cards had been assumed either lost to history or _never made_.

Byakuya rejoined him, his gaze intent on the other's impassive face, "plans for the Inquisition have been announced to SCG, correct?"

"Yes. They're assuming Father Scott to be the Inquisitor as always. I am to go in his stead four months from now—as you requested."

He nodded, "good. The placement of agent IV in a place of proximity to the SCG witch hunters has been cared out to satisfaction as well."

Kaien looked surprised, "Muru! Already? When?"

"I'd prefer you not address agent IV with that incipient name. But since he was one of your pupils," Byakuya trailed off delicately, "then I see your purport of being curious as to his movements. Six months ago just after Senna Kano died." Dropping his gaze to the display finally, he studied the artifact with intense scrutiny; "I must ask this out of my own curiosity for now."

Kaien waited.

"Card Master, what do you see in that boy's future?"

"_That boy_? Kurosaki, you mean?"

Byakuya lifted his slate eyes to rest once more on the dark-haired man's face, "yes."

Kaien smiled mysteriously, stepping a few paces away from the case and the other's rigid form. "Well…I'd have to say…" he brought his right fist out from behind his back, opening it to reveal a small object, a card. Byakuya didn't look back at the display case, knowing the real thing to be resting now in the very hand of a man who could manipulate all the cards of the major Arcana.

He was the living image of Le Bateleur: The Magician.

"Chaos. Upheaval stemming from negative actions recently or from the past—that is what The Tower predicts for Kurosaki's future," Kaien proclaimed.

~~~Tokyo~~~

"Because Kurosaki isn't in—I will be heading the meeting today," Hitsugaya proclaimed to the room of sleepy hunters. Less than two days rest after their last case and everybody was still feeling the effects—not to mention the time read on the clock above the coffee station: 4:43 am.

Rangiku nodded sleepily, her eyes half-closed. Hitsugaya looked at them each in turn, his expression twitching even more by the passing. "Matsumoto!" he barked suddenly as her head drooped even lower onto her chest. Startled by the yell not meant for him, Renji jerked upright from his slumping position in the center computer terminal, "yeah? Chief…you called?"

Rukia tried hard to keep her composure. To distract herself, she lifted her mug of black coffee to her lips, taking a small sip. Hanataro did the same, stirring his with the clink of a spoon and snap of a red lid from the butter toffee flavored liquid creamer supplied by Urahara's café. Hitsugaya sighed heavily, running his free hand through his short spikes, "can't you guys pull yourselves together for once? Geez…and you call yourself Solomon hunters."

Momo raised her head from her crossed arms on the desk, "'Shiro, you know we're listening. Just tell us why we were called in so early!"

"I told you not to call me that," the Chief muttered, shooting the offending brunette hunter a mild glare. Renji chuckled, earning him an ill-disguised look of contempt. Hitsugaya cleared his throat several times before picking up the topmost sheet of a fax from the arms of his loitering assistant Ishida. "Rarely do we ever get a request from out of the Honshu area. However upon reaching the office today, a faxed letter stating the request of a hunt authorized by HQ and bearing immediate action to be taken—"

Rangiku, awakened by his banter, stifled a yawn with her hand, "where?" she asked, another yawn cracking her voice. Hitsugaya looked on with displeasure, but continued simply, "in Oita province on the island of Kyushu. Beppu specifically."

"Beppu?" Momo said aloud, "isn't that where all—"

"—The tourists go? Yes." Hitsugaya took the next sheaf of papers bound in a manila folder and silently went around the room passing them out. Rukia turned hers over, a frown touching her lips, "Kannawa 'Hells' area?"

Rangiku leaned over, lowering her own paper thoughtfully, "that place is most famous-or-infamous I believe, for their natural hot springs. The onsen is very popular there as well as the puns made on the other kind—" she smiled mysteriously, letting Rukia look up questioningly before finishing, "Oniyama Jigoku: Demon mountain hell."

"We are to leave immediately! Travel expenses for your accommodations have been made--" Hitsugaya interrupted, waiting until the Clairvoyant had smiled sweetly back from the interruption. "At Ashiya hotel near the 'hells' however I expect you will do your job and not waste time fooling around—"

"You have so little faith in my ability to keep them from straying, 'Shiro?" questioned a familiar male voice from the doorway to the office. Hitsugaya spun around, "Kurosaki…"

The black clad lead hunter strolled in, his impassive gaze sweeping the room. Grimmjow followed him in, briskly closing the door and rubbing his jacketed arms from the autumn chill garnered on the ride over there. Momo mouthed a little greeting but quickly looked down at her paper once Hitsugaya shot her a warning look. Kurosaki paused in passing behind Rukia; his slim, gloved fingers tugged the info sheet of the case details easily from her hands.

"No explanation of craft, no reason for this sudden leave of our area. No nothing," he mused thoughtfully after a moment of skimming the neatly printed lines. "All we were given was a name, an order and…permission to kill on sight. Not capture."

Rukia twisted around to watch his face carefully as he moved toward the windows looking out over the street. "I agree, it's most irregular," Hitsugaya eyed the other man's movements the way a small creature might watch the larger hunter. "Why?" Rukia decided to voice her curiosity aloud, "Solomon HQ's policy is thus that any and all whom defile the human race as a whole must be annihilated."

"But that would mean…" Kurosaki withdrew his hand from tying the curtains back. Dim light from the faint moon threw an eerie glow to his handsome face, "_you_ would figure in with that, Kuchiki." He pivoted slowly, his gesture of encompassing those in the room, meaningful, "so would _you_ all."

Rangiku shifted her weight in her chair, nervously. As did Momo, in the way she bit down on her bottom lip, her hazel eyes falling to her clasped hands. Grimmjow glanced at their dour expressions and shrugged non-commitedly, "well I wouldn't."

"Be quiet, Jeagerjaques," Hitsugaya muttered. Renji sat up a little, "well, he's right. Hana wouldn't either—I mean he's a—"

"You shut it too, Abarai."

Closing his mouth, the red head went back to nursing his coffee. Kurosaki tilted the paper a little closer to the light from the window, "a two day trip…expenses for five paid in advance. It seems we are to leave on the six am flight from Narita airport." He turned the dial of his watch, "and we have less than forty minutes to get over there. As we all know it usually takes at least fifty—"

Grimmjow interrupted him, "can I go?"

"There are only five seats paid for. Me, Kuchiki, Rangiku, Momo and Renji—"

"Wait! He can take my seat—on the account of my injury," Renji waved his new tortoiseshell cane in emphasis causing a withering glare to be sent his way. "You're going, Abarai." Hitsugaya growled, "it's either that or—"

"I can pay," the teal-haired policeman added.

Renji looked crestfallen as the Chief and Kurosaki agreed.

~~~*~~~

In the end, Rangiku had to rush home to grab a _few things_ and…leave her pet cat with Hitsugaya at the office. The sedan sat idling at the curb when she reemerged with a hastily packed travel bag. "Here," she wheezed, popping the back seat's door open and dumping the _necessities_ on Rukia's lap. "Zip this for me."

Grimmjow glanced back; only averting his curious stare when Rukia discovered the reason the zipper on its track wouldn't zip up. The lace from the French-cut leg of bright pink underwear was to blame. Momo stifled her giggles as the driver took her seat up front. "What's so funny?" Rangiku questioned, shooting a piercing look into the center mirror. Rukia hastily tucked the offending garment back into its crammed niche. "Nothing," she said quickly as the blond narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Momo vainly attempted to smother her tickled funny bone while Rangiku eyed them still distrustfully.

"Well…if you say it's nothing…"

"It isn't anything, Rangiku," Rukia assured, "just something-uh-Jeagerjaques-san said while you were gone."

"Oh? What _did_ he say?"

Grimmjow squirmed uncomfortably.

"We'll tell you on the plane." Momo piped up, sensing the petite hunter's quick wits failing.

~~~Oita airport~~~

"You know here in Beppu…I've heard they have this _famous_ museum," Rangiku commented as she and her seatmate from the plane strode toward the baggage area. The conveyor belt rolled along bringing their small bags around the turn. Kurosaki and Renji were spotted further down the line-well-the lead hunter was standing back while the rookie gathered his luggage.

"What kind? A local art gallery?" Rukia asked, her eyes on the violet travel bag that had managed to evade her. "No," Rangiku calmly followed her. The petite hunter reached over for it at the same second as someone else did. "Isn't this yours, Kuchiki?" Kurosaki straightened, holding the offending item out to her. Tilting her head back to look into his face, a thank you on her lips, Rangiku with excellent timing walked up; "It's a sex museum. We should go check it out!"

"A…what?" Momo had come up to them with Grimmjow lagging behind. Rukia used the distraction to hurriedly snatch her bag from Kurosaki's lax fingers, his expression blank but an amused glint flashed briefly through his eyes. Her cheeks felt hot and she turned away, averting from him the incriminating sight. Meanwhile the itinerant honorary hunter had gotten into it with Renji about the merits of hiring taxis or as Rangiku reminded them-her mind off the _infamous museum_-in her best imitation of Hitsugaya: "we're on a budget! Walk to the site if you have to!"

~~~*~~~

They went by airport Hovercraft and still walked the remaining way. _High-heels were not_, as Rangiku was forced to admit, _the smartest accessory no matter how sexy they made you look-to walk any good distance in_. The blond Clairvoyant limped under the peaked shade of the Hotel Ashiya's roofline. Kurosaki had removed his coat and had placed it neatly on top of the bulk Renji was carrying for him. "Shake a leg, Rangiku," he said cheerfully, "you should've known better than to wear those hideous things on an excursion like this."

An eyebrow twitched at _hideous_. A narrow-eyed glare followed until gray eyes alighted upon the large Indian relief of a temple front and sign proclaiming: Hinokan sex museum, conveniently situated across the street. "Bingo! What luck!" she cried, "look, Rukia! It's that place I told you about! We hafta go check it out!"

"Have any idea what she's talking about?" Renji asked the nearest male, it being Grimmjow. "Not a one," he replied, curiously watching as the Clairvoyant started to drag the two other females of the team across the street, declaring _they just had to go take a tour_. Kurosaki brusquely interrupted them; "our rooms won't be ready until some time this evening. The manager left the message with the administrator who had booked them for us." He snapped his cell shut, thoughtfully glancing up and down the street.

"Well, what'll we do until then?" Renji leaned against the building side after lowering the burden of travel bags to the pavement. "Take a late lunch, ask a few questions to the locals. We're here for work, you'll remember." Kurosaki answered, earning several eye rolls from those who would much rather sightsee and enjoy themselves then do something so ordinary as _work_.

"Speaking of lunch…" Grimmjow indicated the way they had just come, "I saw an honest-to-gods taco truck back up the road. How about we eat there?"

"I don't know…" Kurosaki looked doubtful, "those places are usually hotbeds of food poisoning. I can't afford to have any of you get sick while on the job." Momo looked from one to another, finally voicing her opinion, "I'd like to. It's rare to find foreign cuisine in little towns like this." Rangiku shrugged, "if you guys have no objections—" she paused, meaning Renji and Rukia, "then I'm also game."

The petite hunter felt Kurosaki's gaze on her and she replied, "It's fine." Renji hefted the bags up again, grimacing, "just how _far_ is this place? I'm _still_ injured, remember?"

"Yeah, milk it for all its worth, Abarai," Kurosaki muttered scathingly, causing the red head to blush furiously in anger and Rangiku to cluck in sympathy.

~~~*~~~

"What are you having?" Rukia peeked over Grimm's shoulder to the plastic greasy menu handed to them by the overzealous proprietor whose slanted eyes and affected accent when addressing the Senoritas and el senor-as Kurosaki was called immediately, dispelled any lingering doubts as to the obviousness of his nationality. The Policeman frowned, rubbing his jaw distractedly, "fried plantains are supposed to be the specialty. I've never been fond of the things myself," he answered.

"Plantains? Those are like bananas, right?"

"Sort of."

"Hmm…" she glanced back at her own menu then on down the slim counter where the others were in similar poses poring over the lime green plastic. The overhead sun shed light warmth that wasn't too oppressive for the season; in fact it was mildly cold, enough for a sweater or the black trench Kurosaki had put on again.

"Senorita," the proprietor caught her attention, "have you decided on your order?"

Figuring she couldn't go any wrong then it, she shrugged slightly, handing the menu over the metal rim and to the man's waiting hands, "yes. Just an order of fried plantains, please. With caramel sauce and a plain glass of iced green tea."

Grimmjow lowered his menu, about to open his mouth and order the same thing when Kurosaki's voice carried clearly over to him, "the same. I'll have the same as she."

"Me too!" Rangiku seconded.

Momo looked a little helplessly at Renji, unsure of the Barbacoa torta or fried plantains as everyone else. "Eh…we'll have two orders of the plantains," he said, catching her eye and smiling a bit. Grimmjow stared at them, particularly Kurosaki with defiance, "I'll have the Barbacoa torta and red tea flavored with mint."

"Very good. I'll have everything right up." The proprietor cheerfully entered the steaming little kitchenette where such culinary-albeit-greasy delights could be made. "What?" Grimmjow caught Kurosaki's steady look over Rukia's head. _You're going to regret it_; he seemed to be saying.

~~~*~~~

"The meat in that torta tasted a little off."

"Are you kidding?" Renji glanced at Grimmjow; "I could smell it from all the way on my side! It smelled bad!"

The policeman belched and grimaced once it had faded, "maybe."

"Heh. Serves you right," Kurosaki was heard saying. Rangiku shot him a look, "that wasn't very nice." A breeze kicked up, scattering crackly leaves beneath their boots and heels. Momo slipped her sunglasses into her pocket as the sunlight began to wane, "yeah, Ichigo. That was mean to say something like that. He should apologize, huh, Rukia?"

Cool brown eyes turned her way and hastily she mumbled something noncommittally. "Speak up, Kuchiki," he said in a low tone. She was spared having to answer by a sudden gagging sound and scuttle made by Grimmjow as he covered his mouth with his hands, groaning audibly.

"Uh oh," Renji looked around the rough canvas duffel balanced on his shoulder, "someone's going to be sick," he predicated. Nasty sounds followed.

~~~*~~~

With Kurosaki leading him, Grimmjow was eased onto a narrow twin bed, wrinkling the immaculate floral sheets.

"How do you feel?" he stepped back.

"No better with you here!" the policeman snapped.

"Now boys," Rangiku came out of the small adjoining bathroom, a cool washcloth in hand, "no arguing with Grimm-kun in this condition."

"It's his own fault. He could tell the food was bad but he stubborn—"

"I'm not stubborn!"

"As stubborn as a stupid bull." Kurosaki lightly evaded the pillow tossed by the Clairvoyant. "Cease and desist!" she cried, the door opened and they were in time to witness another barrage of pillow ammunition being thrown at their leader. Even Grimmjow looked shocked at her outburst.

"I'm surprised at you, Ichigo! For HQ to have such faith in your abilities as to place the trust of this team in your care and now to act so childishly!? Argh!" she hopped off the bed and flung the final cushion straight into his sneering face.

"Come along, Momo, Rukia." She commanded briskly, separating the girls from Renji's side. Kurosaki lowered the pillow; an eyebrow rose at their retreating backs, "and just where do you think you're going?"

She whirled on him, "TO GET MEDICINE FOR GRIMMJOW!!! WHAT DO YOU THINK?!!!"

The door slammed climatically after them.

After a long, silent moment, Renji spoke, "whoa. Remind me. Never get on Ran's bad side."

"You said it," the ill one added from the bed.

Kurosaki merely looked on, a slight sneer still twisting his mouth.

~~~*~~~

"Damn him!! Hitsugaya isn't half as bad except on certain things—and I've heard the old days with Ms. Neliel still talked of fondly. Let alone over twenty years ago with Ms. Masaki!" Rangiku was sweeping all before her with a snarl and frigid glare even the contemptible ticket taker leering at her from over the booth of the museum, found hard to ignore.

Rukia looked to Momo curiously, "Masaki?"

"Yeah." She lowered her tone in answering while Rangiku swiped her credit card. "Ms. Masaki was leader before Ms. Nel took over. I think she got married and sort of retired from HQ. Except, I don't know if—"

"Hey," Rangiku turned her attention from the freshly printed receipt and to the eager face of the ticket taker, "by any chance do you know of a man—um—Takahiro Oomori?" Momo had paused and now watched as the man's expression soured.

"Yes," he answered carefully, "there was a man called by that name whom lived here many years ago."

"Great! Can you tell me where he is now if you know?"

Evasively he adjusted the roll of receipt paper, "perhaps." Then casually, "Rumor is that he and his wife moved further up north. This museum boasts some of the Oomori work. I can show it to you if you'll wait until my break."

"When will that be?" Rangiku asked impatiently.

The man-Yukio-read his nametag. Glanced at his watch, "in fifteen minutes or so."

"We'll wait," she declared.

~~~*~~~

True to his word, Yukio led them along the air-conditioned rooms filled with sexual paraphernalia and erotic art. Some of it made Momo gasp quietly into her sleeve and even Rangiku's eyebrows rose more than once at a few things. Rukia passed by most of it with a bland, bored glance. Only halting and her expression changing at what they were shown last.

Dolls. Many of them in various states of undress from elaborate Kimonos kneeling or joined with little wooden men. "Geishas?" Rangiku peered closer to one case, doubt expressed in her voice. Yukio nodded, a gleam that could only be called perverted in his eyes, "yes. Kanae Oomori was famous for her _living art_ collection."

"I can see why they say _living art_," Momo gulped and shied away embarrassed, "their expressions are so—"

"Lifelike?" Rukia finished, bending for a closer look at two men sharing a rapturous woman. Rangiku straightened, "but you said _Kanae Oomori_. I thought Takahiro had done these?"

Yukio smiled unpleasantly, "well yes. That's what all the media said about the erotic collection. But signed on some of the last ones," he gestured to a slim beautiful doll with trailing midnight hair and a bared bosom, "the museum director informed me, had the signature of a K and entwined O together. So you see it's obvious that Mrs. Oomori's genius created them all."

"Yes," Rangiku agreed, "I think I do. By the way what town did you say they had moved to? Onta?"

"Why yes," He said surprised.

"Thank you," she said decisively, "girls lets go."

~~~*~~~

"Onta? You had a vision."

"Uh huh. A house near the woods, a light piece of wood being carved by wrinkled hands-uh-" her forehead creased, "and a man saying something like: _this place had peace before you came here, Kanae. Onta was different then_."

"Then you took a gamble calling that lecher on it." Momo shivered, surreptitiously glancing around for any other masher types loitering around. "_He was_ a lecher in the best sense of the word," Rangiku muttered rolling her eyes heavenward. "Hey, shouldn't we stop at a store to pick up the medicine for Jeagerjaques-san like we said we would?" Rukia interrupted.

"Oh yeah! Damn. I'd forgotten," the Clairvoyant veered around from the Ashiya hotel's doors. "Kurosaki would have our collective heads despite the info we gathered!"

_Too true_, both girls silently nodded in agreement.

~~~*~~~

An hour later as the dusk had thoroughly set in, the girls marched in the room commandeered by Kurosaki for himself, Grimmjow, and Renji. The red head was to either sleep in the chair or on the floor, not surprisingly the bed wasn't offered and seeing the platonic bedmates he had a choice of, Renji didn't push.

"Pack up, boys." Rangiku announced, depositing their offering placed in a plastic grocery bag onto her partner's lap, startling him. Kurosaki looked over at them grouped by the door, his knees shifted, and crossing over one another, "why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because. Yours truly discovered an important piece of info."

"Well?" he snapped when she hesitated.

"Keep your fly zipped! I'm getting there!"

Momo burst out with a loud snicker, which she quickly smothered. Covering it over with a nervous smile, she crossed by Kurosaki's bed to get to Grimmjow huddled beneath a blanket. "How're you feeling, Grimm?" she bent in low to peer into his face. His breath rattled noisily and he groaned in misery, "not good at all."

"I suppose Grimmjow might have to stay behind on this one," Rangiku thoughtfully muttered, causing Kurosaki to send her a glare.

"Matsumoto…"

"Oh alright! Spoilsport! Well it's like this, after we left here earlier me and the girls went to…"

~~~*~~~

"Some town called Onta?"

"Yeah. I had a flash of it and heard the name. Then when I questioned the pervert more about it-he admitted that was where the old couple had gone," the Clairvoyant crossed her arms over her chest, her lips pursed in thought. "Then shouldn't we head over there straight away?" Renji was leaning toward them against the cushioned seat of the chair.

"We can't," Kurosaki said darkly.

"Why not?"

"Jeagerjaques."

"Ohhh."

"And you," he smiled unpleasantly.

Surprisingly almost no one heard this last comment; each was wrapped up in the conundrum of their poisoned hunter to notice anything that wasn't much out of the ordinary. Weakly the blankets on the other bed were pushed back and swaying slightly, his usual healthfully tanned face pasty and sweat flattening his teal hair, Grimmjow waved at them reassuringly, "don't worry about me. I'm almost myself again."

"Are you sure?" from Rangiku.

Then, Momo placed her hand against his forehead, brushing away damp locks, "don't push yourself, Grimm. You're only mortal, you know."

"She's right. And besides that…if you weren't in exact shape you'd just be deadweight on the team, like Kuchiki was."

Silence followed Kurosaki's last statement, the petite hunter kept her eyes down on the carpet, mindlessly tracing patterns in the fibers, her mind quietly seething in furious anger. Without Hitsugaya there to keep him from bullying the lower peons, he did as he wished and said as he wished. _Soon though_…she assured herself, _he'd pay for it._

"So it's settled then?" Rangiku broke the tension filled quiet in the room; "we'll leave for the town of Onta in the morning?"

"Uh huh. I'll have to call the administrator about the change in plans. He'll cancel and transfer the funds to another place by then if I call him now." Kurosaki said, all the while Rukia knew the proper channels to go through would be from someone up at HQ, not a man probably asleep in a house faraway.

~~~To be continued~~~

A/N: ick :b I was blanching today at all the fics of a _certain_ pairing that were on the archive page I looked at today-naming no names. Ick. Sorry…ahem. Reviews are appreciated…says sleepily .


	10. Chapter 10 Dollhouse

Witch CH.10: Dollhouse

Early in the morning as planned, they checked out of the hotel. Grimmjow managed to hold up until just about fifteen minutes from the train station, the taxi pulling over hurriedly onto the side of the road and with Renji assisting, the door was flung open and breakfast upended on the ground. Wiping his mouth with a spare handkerchief, Grimmjow straightened, "I'm fine. The queasiness has passed."

"Really?" the red headed hunter expressed doubt, seeing the other sway and catch at the door handle. "I'm fine!" Grimmjow insisted as an irritated honk from the vehicle behind them came particularly loudly. Renji waved a backhand at the car window and glowering face when it pulled hastily out into the lane again. Kurosaki's skepticism as to the police officer's state of health, growing with a text message moments later: _no more interruptions, or else…_

Grimmjow leaning over Renji's shoulder, read it with an under breath snarl but settled back into his seat quickly enough when they jounced over a speed bump in the parking lot of the station. The cab fares were then paid, bags unloaded and several pairs of eyes scanned the timetable. "Which one are we supposed to take?" Rangiku asked, seeing the two-hour travel time predicated for a certain one.

"The JR Kyudai line," Kurosaki replied.

"Ah…the two-hour one. But I see it stops in Hita. Onta is our destination."

"There's a forty-minute bus ride from Hita to that other place. From there we'll split up and look for that house you described. It's a small town so I'm sure it won't be all that difficult to find. While we're doing that, I want Abarai to stay with Jeagerjaques at the inn."

"Now wait a minute—" Grimmjow began indignantly.

"Sounds good to me," the red head said cheerfully. Rangiku slapped him on the back and when he turned to her with a confused look on his face, she shrugged, "you deserved it."

~~~*~~~

The scenery passed by in a blur, cups of steaming coffee were ordered and when drunk, were lamented upon for the gourmet fare provided by Hitsugaya for the office. "There's no place like Raven's 13. There's no place like Raven's 13…" Renji was heard muttering like a magic chant over his paper cup. Kurosaki took a sip, pronounced it edible and during the passage of two hours, drank more than one. Rangiku, maybe smarter, had English breakfast tea instead, clucking her tongue over the grimaces sported by her drowsy, suffering companions.

Rukia for the sake of caffeine simply drank half and then left the rest to turn cold and leave a condensation ring in the cup-holder. Her eyes went from Kurosaki's focused gaze on the Beppu newspaper purchased at the station, to Grimmjow's nausea-ridden face. Then, she sighed and rested her arm against the windowsill and watched until her eyelids drooped and sooner than she would've liked, a rough hand was shaking her shoulder, waking her up.

"We've arrived in Hita," it was Kurosaki, "get up."

Her limbs felt stiff from the hard fabric seat, and she stretched, yawning as she did so. The others were already moving toward the front, luggage gathered including her bag being carried by _him_. They got off at the platform in single-file, conferred a few minutes then started off for the bus depot located on the other side of the station. Before long, they were traveling again and Grimmjow-who hadn't been sick the entire train ride over-held a paper bag at the ready.

~~~*~~~

"Man! This is a small town—more like tiny!" Renji exclaimed. The hunters had gotten off at the small metal overhang and sign proclaiming: Onta, population: 2,000. From there they could see several little streets branching off the main one and curving into slight hills where houses lined the way. Not a person could be seen about the market square or at the Akatsuki inn where apparent vacancy was assured and late reservations were even welcome.

A few careful inquiries and veiled observations established a plethora of insinuative accusations against the town's famous resident. Kanae Oomori and her husband Takahiro-now deceased; had moved to the town ten years ago. Since then mighty peculiar things-in the words of the innkeeper, Sojiro, had transpired. Enough to warrant the exhumation of Takahiro's body just to make well and sure he was still buried.

"Apparently," Kurosaki said thoughtfully, "game hunters in the surrounding woodland heard the old woman talking to somebody. They said a voice even answered her in the same recognizable tone of an Osakan accent." He and the girls stood in the square, outside of the inn. "Creepy," Rangiku muttered, glancing around and catching the slightest movement of a curtain being drawn back by a fast hand.

"I'd heard of the Oomori living dolls. My father had mentioned that the Archival director was looking to purchase a diorama of a courthouse scene from the Salem witch trials. I think the deal fell through, though." Momo commented

"Why?"

"Because…I think they refused or something," the brunette hunter replied to Rukia. "I just never thought it would be the same Oomori as our suspect."

"Of course. Would you want to design a scene of an infamous witch hunt, foreign or not, when you yourself or your husband is a witch?" Kurosaki interposed with a hint of a sardonic smile on his lips.

"No…guess not." Her expression darkened.

"I'm sure HQ would've paid top dollar. So for them to refuse then maybe that was when Solomon caught onto something being not right." Wisely he began moving, motioning the girls to follow. Questioningly Momo looked from his impassive face then to Rangiku, but saw the Clairvoyant shake her head. _Now wasn't the time. _

~~~*~~~

"What was that all about?"

"We were being watched. Didn't you see them?" Kurosaki had stopped walking, the winding road that he had led them on, curved into a deeper, dense part of the wood. Suddenly Momo was chilled, her gaze darted past the heavy tree limbs and shadowy nooks feeling as though a thousand little eyes were upon her.

"The townspeople," Rangiku hazarded to guess, though it wasn't hard to figure out what with even the innkeeper peering out constantly from the little window. "Uh huh." Kurosaki swung from right to left, then, halted and glanced at Momo, "what's the matter? Feel_ something_?"

"Yeah…don't you guys?"

Rukia rubbed her palms together then her arms in the long sleeves of the dress, "I didn't before. But now that you mention it…"

A sharp cry pierced the area of silence, breaking it and startling the hunters. Rangiku swore unladylike, her composure shaken. Kurosaki cocked his head listening a little closer, "a whippoorwill most likely."

"You're saying that was a bird?" Rukia turned on him incredulously.

"Yes, Kuchiki. But…tell me. What do _you_ think it was?"

Stymied and angered she tried several times unsuccessfully to retort half of his venom, but couldn't. Her hands balling into fists, she deliberately averted her face from him and stared off into the crouching shadows. Then surprisingly she sensed him move closer to her and smooth fingers, only the tips rough from the scratched leather, lightly cupped her chin.

"Kuchiki—" he began, she looked up fast to try and read the peculiar emotion reminiscent in his tone when Rangiku interrupted loudly, "hey, guys! I see smoke up ahead. And where there's smoke—"

"-There's bound to be fire," Kurosaki strode away from her without looking back. The hand that had touched her, curling and uncurling seeming to try and rid itself of a contaminant; her eyes flashed. _If that was how it was…_

~~~*~~~

"A house set far from the town, surrounded by trees. Almost in a world all itself," Kurosaki observed, staring around the clearing where a small two-story cottage sat wrapped on three sides by pine trunks and branches. A small brick chimney emitted curls of gray smoke into the overcast sky, the gloom unbroken as the quiet made it possible to hear the faintest sounds of humming from inside the house. Rangiku saw the shut windows like sorrowful eyes, the peeling door like a gaping maw, the scent of old and misty rain far away and said aloud, "this is it. This is the place, I'm sure of it."

Kurosaki glanced at her, "you sure?"

"Positive."

"Well then…Matsumoto, Kuchiki, come with me. Momo, you stay here and—" he unfastened his trench and handed it to her, leaving the under vest covering his holster, "—watch. Keep out of sight from anybody passing but I have a feeling someone may turn up." The brunette hunter nodded, "right. Be careful you guys," she said before heading back for the outer road. When she was out of their sight, as a curve didn't permit the house or the clearing to be seen from the road, Kurosaki flicked his hand indicating it was time to go.

"Let me do the talking," he instructed then rapped loudly on the wooden panel. Rukia stood behind him as did Rangiku, the former eyed his stoic countenance, wondering where on earth had the man from ten minutes before, gone? After a moment of waiting, shuffling came and a voice like that of one that could be expected as being from a tomb, or long in disuse questioned, "who is it?"

A smile crept into Kurosaki's response, "um, Mrs. Oomori? We're from the Hinokan museum in Beppu. We'd like to talk with you about sculpting a new work. If you have the time?"

Rangiku gasped and sent him a glare, which he matched before the door opened and a wrinkled old face peered out at them. "From Beppu, you say?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Kanae Oomori sized them up each in turn, passing over Kurosaki without comment, then taking more interest in Rangiku and then finally noticing Rukia, with whom she stared the longest. "Come in," she said, allowing them entry. They were inducted into a small sitting room off the foyer; high-backed sofas covered in ghostly sheets were grouped around a small rectangular table with claw feet. As they sat down where she gestured, Rukia caught sight of a small, round face peering at them from a hole near the ceiling. She meant to call the hunters' attention to it, but didn't when the old lady came bustling quickly back with a tray of tea things.

"I was just about to have afternoon tea with Mina," Mrs. Oomori explained, removing a bride doll from a sideboard they hadn't noticed before. A gown of fine-antiqued lace and matching veil capped a head of luscious red curls, a tiny porcelain face with long lashes and a coy smile looked back at them with dead eyes. Rukia tried not to stare, a peculiar sensation creeping up her spine. _She was sure it was the same face from the hole. _

"You like?"

Apparently she had failed since the old lady had seen her preoccupation with it. "I-It's very beautiful," Rukia admitted, feeling Kurosaki glance at her. _Was her nervousness that obvious_? "She is, isn't she? Mina was one of my first daughters. But you," the old lady smiled gently, "are just as lovely, even more so. For your eyes sparkle with life and not emptiness. I would love to sculpt you, my dear."

She clasped her hands tighter, ignoring the cup of tea poured that was growing colder by the second, "thank you for the compliment. But I'm sure our superiors have someone else in mind." With a discreet look to Kurosaki, he took the hint, "well yes. We were sent with a drawing of the girl but I'm afraid I must've left it at the inn. I'm terribly sorry—"

"Don't be. It's rare that me and my girls get any visitors out here," the old lady said blithely. Rangiku looked pointedly at the other two, _girls? Daughters_?

"By girls, I assume you mean your dolls, ma'am?" Kurosaki used this excuse to get up and allow the old lady to beam and lead him over to the shadowed spaces in the room where more glassy-eyed denizens sat. Leaving Rangiku and Rukia to stare at the bride doll, Mina with suspicion. Footsteps and the two raised voices soon left by another door and the Clairvoyant ventured a comment with a raised brow, "I'd swear she moved."

"You too?" they looked at each other and then laughed at themselves nervously.

"Shall we stay with Mina, or look around?" Rangiku asked seriously once their moment of mirth had subsided. "Look around," Rukia said quickly, standing. The blond hunter followed suit and soon they were walking around the room, looking at the dolls and at one moment, carefully inching a desk drawer open with a flick of a penknife to the lock. "Watch the doors," Rangiku whispered, withdrawing a set of thick old photos tied together with a rubber band that snapped when she tried to remove it.

Rukia took a circuitous route around the sofa and Mina, her eyes catching movement and turning swiftly, gave a startled gasp. At that second, Kurosaki was heard declining an invitation to stay longer and with a promise to return later on with the proposed project, a door in the side panel swung open and they appeared. Rangiku had crammed the photos in the pockets of her blazer and crossed the room, hastily after sliding the drawer shut with a minor squeak that made her wince.

She was just in time to have her knee bump the table and upset the cups of untouched tea. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Hurriedly she dropped down and tried to wipe up the spill with petite white cocktail napkins. Rukia hadn't moved from behind the back of the sofa, not trusting herself to speak, she simply watched Kurosaki make more excuses and apologies for his associate's clumsiness.

Soon they were going out the door and walking back toward the road. "I don't know about what you found out…but we have something to prove that she's not as harmless as she looks," Rangiku said proudly, prompting him to glance at her, "really?"

"Guys!" Momo appeared at their approach, pine needles stuck to her hair and her cheeks were scratched and flustered pink, "guess who I saw come this way! That innkeeper, Sojiro!"

"Probably looking to see where we had gone." Kurosaki calmly said, "now what was it you girls discovered other than more creepy dolls?"

Rangiku chose to ignore his sneer and plunged her hand into her pocket, withdrawing the pilfered items. "They were in a locked drawer of the sideboard. I think there was more in there, but I was only able to get these. But more importantly…look at this," she revealed the topmost one of a smiling red-haired woman dressed in an old-fashioned nurses uniform.

"That's—"

"Mina, the bride doll."

Rukia averted her eyes from the old photo of the once-living woman, only remembering the head of the smiling doll pivoting unnaturally backward to watch her progress around the room.

~~~*~~~

"How're you feeling?" Renji didn't remove his gaze from the TV screen as Grimmjow moved around the small bedroom restlessly. "Better." The policeman stopped before the window and shifted the curtains to look out. "Interesting," he muttered under his breath.

"What is it?"

That man that gave us the keys earlier, he followed Kurosaki and the girls. I saw him when he left…but now he's coming back."

"So?"

"Sooo, you idiot. That means he's suspicious of us and I'm sure—" Grimmjow shut the curtain hurriedly, "—he'll be on his way up here. To make well and sure we're still incapacitated."

"You're imagining things!" Renji scoffed, shifting his crossed feet on the tiny table and settling more comfortably in the cushion. Grimmjow shrugged, " fine. Don't believe me." And went to his suitcase on the foot of the bed, taking out his SCG jacket and holster and putting them on.

"I'm not taking any chances," he settled leaning near the headboard for the man that was sure to be coming up to check on them at any moment. It seemed maybe premonition was coming on strong for less than twenty minutes after his last statement; someone knocked on the door and without waiting for invitation went in.

"I figured you boys were bound to be starved. So I fixed up a little something for you. It's on the tab with the rooms but your friends had said something about bringing vittles from the market," the innkeeper boomed. Renji was near to saying thanks for the food when he caught a warning look from across the room, "much appreciated." He said lamely, "but—"

"—We're going to wait for Kurosaki and the girls." Grimmjow asserted. The man smiled broader, his eyes narrowing strangely, "come now. It may be hours before they come back. At least try the stew," he tapped the round bowl for emphasis. "And I said we'll wait," the policeman repeated, keeping his tone pleasant. Renji noticed the flicker of stifled rage pass over the innkeeper's face; then, it was gone, replaced by a blank closed off expression.

"Suit yourself," the man turned to leave but not before setting the tray of bowls down on the other bed. The two hunters stared at it then watched as he left. "What was that all about?" Renji asked aloud as other voices came from the hall outside and Kurosaki entered.

"What was he doing in here?"

"The innkeeper? Trying to force-feed us stew. Grimm wouldn't touch it and I myself must admit that guy's manner when he brought in it, had me on edge as well. Anyway, so what did you four learn?" Rangiku went around Kurosaki's stiff form and told about their visit to the retired doll-maker. When she had finished, Renji was flipping through the photos, whistling at some of them and raising eyebrows at others. Momo stood at the window, looking out at the darkening sky.

"It's going to rain," she said turning back to the room. Kurosaki knelt on the other bed, stirring the spoon through the thick stew. He lifted up the silver tip and sniffed it, then dropped it back down onto the tray, sending a spray of aromatic liquid across the bedspread. "Was there something in it?" Rangiku asked, seeing his serious frown and knowing it meant more than just annoyance.

"No. Unless you account a certain herb meant to dose out the sleep of ages. It's nearly undetectable to most—say a type of belladonna but not as potent except in heavy amounts. There was also wine poured in to mask the odor."

Grimmjow started up, "you mean that bastard was—"

"Going to poison you two? Yes. But I can only assume he thought we either weren't going to return or maybe something else…I don't know." Kurosaki frowned and started to pace, passing by Rukia as she suddenly began searching her pockets frantically.

"Kuchiki?"

"My phone. I must've dropped it somewhere…damn," she muttered, glancing down at the carpet and behind the chair for it. "Hold on," Kurosaki withdrew his and dialed a few numbers in, the hunters became quiet, waiting for the responding ring. Nothing.

"Maybe it fell out on the road?" Rangiku ventured to suggest. Rukia twisted her hands worriedly around her compact, clenching it tightly when Kurosaki snapped his cell shut and said, "Maybe you dropped it at Oomori's home."

Rukia breathed in sharply and her face whitened, "oh no…"

Renji turned to look at her when Rangiku and Momo did, "did I miss something?"

"Rukia?" the Clairvoyant went toward her, "what's wrong?"

"I…something did fall…when we got up to look around the room. I heard it hit the floor, but—"

"Thought nothing of it?" Kurosaki finished her unspoken admittance. Her eyes darted briefly to his face and then away, "yeah."

"Well then…I guess we'll just have to go and get it back."

"Complete the hunt tonight?" Renji realized the meaning of the lead hunter's words. "Our job was to come and find Takahiro Oomori. He is dead, only she lives. You saw those things she had created," Kurosaki directed this to Rangiku and continued with her hesitant nod, "I don't know exactly what we're facing. But orders are to kill on sight, is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" the hunters replied.

"Good. Kuchiki, Hinamori you will go with me. And Matsumoto, you stay with Jeagerjaques and Abarai. There's something going on with this place." He glanced meaningfully at the tray on the bed and then jerked his head at them, "get ready."

~~~*~~~

"Do you really think that innkeeper is helping the old witch-lady?"

"Keep your voice down," Rangiku hissed, her hands around the trigger of her gun, carefully she inched the muzzle around the curve of the stairs, then shooed Renji back in the room with a gesture of irritation. "Stay there. I'm going to go scope out things down below," she glared at his hurt expression but sighed in relief when he did as she said.

Kurosaki, Momo and Rukia had left, weapons in holsters and prepared for whatever they might face later on, though something did bother her as she crept downstairs, no one was around. It was just _too_ quiet.

She waved her gun in a wide circle, stepping off the stair, no startled cries came and then she advanced to the main room and wide empty counter. _Where was the innkeeper_? A small half swinging door let her behind the counter, glancing to and fro and seeing no one watching, she entered the proprietor's private office. The room was in near darkness until her feeling hand on the wall came across a light switch, which she immediately flipped on, flooding the room with light. What she saw made her scream until something small wielded by tiny hands broke over her head and she crumpled soundlessly to the floor.

~~~*~~~

Renji sat down with his holster draped over his knees, cane at his side. The remnants of a hasty snack from someone's travel bags tossed unceremoniously by Grimmjow onto the table. "I'm starving," he grumbled, his color much improved. He left the window and started moving around again restlessly, his hand going periodically to the butt of the small gun at his shoulder.

"How long do you think before we—" he trailed off, as they both heard the unmistakable sound of a faraway cry and then the creak of step below. Renji raised his finger to his lips and crossed stiffly to the door, pressing his ear to the panel. Again a stealthy step and then another. He turned back to Grimmjow with an expression of alarm.

"That can't be Rangiku…"

"No," Grimmjow agreed in a whisper, his teal eyes wide. _He'd seen enough of the previous hunt to know that something dangerous was most likely coming up to their room_. The two hunters backed away from the door, Renji bumped against the chair side, Grimmjow between the beds, his legs braced and heart racing.

They trained their weapons at the door, triggers held. The knob began to twist and a cheerful voice followed the faint creaking of hinges, "you boys are all alone up here now, ain't ya?" The opening revealed a caricature of a jointed man-sized doll, wooden fingers waggled past their horrified expressions, "I see you didn't eat the nice stew I brought you. Don't you know it's bad manners to—"

"S—S-Stay back!!!" Renji cried when the doll-man took two peculiar, dragging steps into the room. Grimmjow watched this with admirable calm presence of mind; however, his main preoccupation was the fact that they were now trapped. "—To not partake of something when given by a friendly hand? Now lower that weapon, boy, before you shoot someone with it!"

That last speech was too much for Renji, with a wild cry he opened fire, Grimmjow did the same. Though in hindsight there was nothing to suppose the orbo bullets would do anything to the doll.

They could only hope Rangiku was alive and not tied up somewhere dead.

For her assistance was greatly needed.

~~~*~~~

Kurosaki held a finger to his lips, going to one side of the closed door. Night was falling rapidly and not a glimmer of light could be seen from the windows of the cottage. Momo held her weapon closely, her hazel eyes darting to the knob then to the lead hunter's face. He nodded and she took the heavy brass knob in her gloved hand and checked it, then backed up a few steps and let the back of her boot collide with it. A sharp crack and then it another kick by Kurosaki sent it crashing inward.

He stepped inside carefully shining his flashlight around then motioned for them to follow. Rukia went a little more apprehensively after him and Momo. The house was quiet and only the disturbingly hollow sound of their combined footsteps on loose floorboards was heard. The first rooms they came upon were empty, not only of the dolls but also their master as well.

Kurosaki then looked for the stairs, while Momo started toward the end of the inner hallway. The sound of the door opening prompted Rukia to make a choice between the acerbic hunter going upstairs or investigating the down, with the other. "Wait for me," she muttered, hurriedly trailing after the brunette. Kurosaki glanced at her, sighed once and continued with one hand along the railing and the other loose on the trigger.

A shaft of light fell on a thin blade poking up from between two steps before the landing. The stairs were steep and he kept a good hold on the narrow wooden beam feeling it tremble and his legs convulse as a searing lancet of pain striped across the back of his ankles. "Kuchiki!!!" he yelled, his grip failing and sending him crashing down the flight of stairs. Another scream from the room at the end of the hallway and the sharp rapport as a shot was fired and then the slamming of a door came.

Kurosaki lay at the bottom, clutching his leg, hissing between gritted teeth. The scramble and thud of little feet came from above on the landing and he looked up despite himself. In the glare of his dropped flashlight a bent figure and other smaller ones gathered and peered down at him.

"I'm so happy you came back, my dear boy." Kanae Oomori said, clapping gnarled hands together, Kurosaki was startled to see carving tools being cradled by tiny arms. And as they came down toward him, he saw tiny porcelain faces gloating with malice: _the dolls_.

~~~*~~~

"_This place had peace before you came here, Kanae. Onta was different then_." _The man spoke from the shadows. Light from the halfway drawn curtains spilled hazily into the room, illuminating upon the figure of a woman seated before a great desk, blocks of fine wood were grouped around and the sound of soft scraping could be heard as a knife flicked in and out of a carved chunk. _

_Rangiku was part of the scene yet not, her eyes widening in fear for the seated woman when the dulled blade of an axe reflected the meager light. The innkeeper moved closer, sweat stood out on beads on his broad forehead and creased neck. Eyes gauged the distance between his axe and the neck of the woman._

"_Kanae…I'm sorry…" he raised the axe and swung sideways, but nothing happened. Only a watery gurgling sound spewed from his own throat. Rangiku saw the small jointed fingers of a man and then a painted face appear over Sojiro's shoulder. A knife with a buckhorn handle was held between the knobby wooden fingers._

"_Takahiro," said the old woman chidingly, finally acknowledging the doll. On the wrinkled forehead of the doll gleamed a mark of glowing black light._

"_Ar is the rune of binding, binding a soul to a doll and then controlling it. Ar is the rune of binding of Saturn and…"_

Rangiku started awake, her lips forming the words, "Ar is the rune of binding, she binds the soul to a doll she makes and then controls it. Saturn is the sign of dark night…a dark night! Renji!" she fumbled for her gun and then finally let her eyes rise to the seated figure of the long dead innkeeper, the brown leathery skin of his throat was stained a rotted crimson, a slash straight across.

She looked a little longer then turned away, "I'm sorry." Her steps hurried, she fled from the room and out into the lobby then hearing muffled thuds from the ceiling, ran up the stairs. On the landing she saw Renji collapsed outside of the room, his attention focused solely on the struggle from within. "Dammit," he hissed, scrabbling for the end of his gun just barely out of reach.

Inside the room, Grimmjow was pressed against the window, his head slamming into the panes of glass and stiff wooden fingers tightening around his throat. Rangiku ignored her partner's exclamation and instead took careful aim and fired twice into the ball-sockets connecting the legs. The doll shook and sagged against the policeman, but didn't release him.

A frenzied snarl erupted from Rangiku's mouth and her gun discharged four more shots into the wooden head and neck. Shards of wood exploded along with flecks of glass, but Grimmjow was freed. She tore the grasping hands from his throat, and helped him up. "Are you alright?" she demanded. Teal eyes stared back at her like she was crazy.

"Alright?" he echoed and then snickered hollowly, "she asks if I'm okay after being mauled by a life-size doll! Renji was the one who hurt himself badly. He tackled the thing head on and re-sprained his ankle in the process."

Rangiku checked the chambers of both guns and then dug in one of the suitcases and withdrew a carton of spare bullets, "only with clearance from HQ could these pass through airport security. Luckily Kurosaki always carries extra." With that said, she began reloading Renji's gas gun and Grimmjow's near revolver. "Unfortunately I don't think even he knows the truth of what we're facing. That's why…" far away the sound of a thousand little hands pounding at the doors and windows of the ground floor came.

"Shit. They're here," Rangiku picked up the tortoiseshell cane from the floor and Grimmjow went to help its owner up. An arm over the policeman's broad shoulder and he stood up unsteadily on his legs. "Gods…it hurts!" Renji hissed and nearly toppled forward. Pitilessly Rangiku glanced at him, "we have to go. There are more of those things coming. Only killing the witch will cease their movements. I'm worried for Kurosaki and the girls…"

~~~*~~~

It was slow going on the road out of the town. Rangiku kept watch while Grimmjow supporting Renji moved on ahead; branches crackled in the woods and soft chuckles floated to them every once in a while. "But how did that woman do all of this?" her partner asked with difficulty between breaths.

"Simple. Her power was that of the seventeenth rune Ar in the runic canon. Her victims were chosen for their beauty and youth then as she gathered more dolls these carried out her bidding and were sent out to kill others. Their souls were what she bound and placed inside vessels she created from wood and ceramic. Living dolls from their faces but inside each is a trapped soul of a human." Rangiku spun around sharply hearing a light tap of feet on pavement but saw nothing.

"On dark nights was when the power of Saturn was drawn down. Nights such as this," she breathed in, up ahead and behind them, tiny shapes crouched. "Fuck," Grimmjow muttered, his free hand fumbling to raise his pistol. "Aim for the joints and sockets," Rangiku braced her gun. Renji did the same even though his face was taut with pain.

A dozen shots rang out in the night.

~~~*~~~

"Kuchiki…" Kurosaki whispered, his voice was hoarse; his hands were tied behind his back with a coarse rope. Rukia lay full-length on a table, her hands were folded on her breast and her eyes were shut, the glowing symbol of a rune was at her head and feet. Momo was nowhere to be seen, probably the same though.

"Ku—"

"It's no use. She won't awaken for as long as the rune of binding holds her soul." Kanae approached, in one hand a gleaming buckhorn knife was extended. Kurosaki twisted some, his mouth dry as sandpaper, "you won't get away with this! I'll—don't you touch her!"

The upraised knife slowly began a curved descent down toward Rukia's chest. Kurosaki jerked and yanked his wrists and his ankles but lacked the strength to break the rope, in horror he watched, knowing there was _almost_ nothing he could do to save her. Except…

Blue light flared suddenly, another symbol crossed the rune of Ar. "Laguz!" Kurosaki gasped, in the doorway stood Momo, more light emanated from the field encircling her feet. "Rukia!" she yelled, "snap out of it! Release your craft!" Kanae heard and smiled coldly, "I'm afraid you're mistaken. No one can escape the ring of Saturn."

"Kuchiki!" Kurosaki strained and rocked in the chair he was seated in. Momo ducked the swipe the old woman aimed for her face, stepping back and then coming inches from a miniature baby doll. "That is so wrong," she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest, a wave of water shielding her from the machete held by pudgy fingers. The stained edge scraped fine spray onto the floor, the bisque face twisting sideways; an obscene smile on the humanoid features stared back at her.

Momo's lips moved silently, spirals gathering into a vortex that at her command caught and sliced away the tiny clothed arms, the large machete fell, cleaving a hole in the wooden floor. The old woman screamed in anguish and blind rage, blackness darker than the night rose up at her feet.

"Yat thur na Ar!"

The light of Laguz began to dim beneath the onslaught of Saturn's bind. Kurosaki felt a slight tightening in his chest, his skin feeling as though it were on fire. "Momo…" he said through clenched teeth, knowing the brunette hunter wouldn't last much longer. The ball of black energy, frayed around the edges allowed the torrid blue of a stormy sea to twist around, the two crafts fighting and the hunter's strength waning fast, the orbo pendants hadn't worked. The dull green of his, lay against the top of his coat, withholding none of the residual energy flowing from the battle.

From beyond the window, the sound of bullets' rapport rattled the panes. Kurosaki thought briefly of Rangiku but quickly dismissed her_. They wouldn't arrive in time_. Momo gasped, her body going rigid as the wall of darkness smothered her craft. Kanae moved forward, hands outstretched and wrapping around the young hunter's throat. A struggle ensued with her weakly trying to fend off the elderly woman's attack, and in the process began backing up out the open door.

Kurosaki knew warning was futile even as the railing struck Momo's hip, her dulling eyes glanced to the side and down; her body rattled the wooden bars. Choking, she grasped the woman's forearms, and both struggled in the others' hold, the narrow rail keeping them within bounds. Kurosaki watched in growing trepidation when Momo was forced nearly over, her heels lifting minutely. On Kanae Oomori's face, sick triumph reigned.

"Ar hek!"

"Naalam Laguz…" Her craft flared, as did the binding rune's; black and blue coalesced, shimmering in a wave then shooting forward over the house. A scream left the old witch's mouth as she toppled over the banister, only to disappear in the darkness of the stairwell. Glass tinkled in the window frames, the impact of the two disparate powers shattering them.

Momo leaned in the room after looking down for the witch's body, she breathed a deep sigh of relief; _it was finally over. _

~~~*~~~

"The same. Scratched, cut and bruised." Kurosaki reported to Hitsugaya on his cell. The orange-haired lead hunter heard the exasperated sigh on the other end of the line and had to agree whole-heartedly with the Chief's assessment:_ they were lucky to be alive_.

~~~*~~~

Outside, Rangiku stood over the dug earth; spade in hand. "Ready?" she asked, as silently Momo and Rukia approached with trash bags of the lifeless dolls. The brunette hunter dumped her load first and backed up, "yeah." The moonlight unveiled from the wreath of black clouds revealed the dark purple bruise marring Rukia's left temple. Renji had exclaimed over it and the red finger imprints on Momo's neck. He himself watched the proceedings for a moment longer from the woodpile near the back door then got up and made his way over to them, leaning heavily onto his cane, a bottle of lighter fluid in his free hand.

Grimmjow, a tall shadow in the circle of moonlight, stepped forward, a poker from the chimney at his side. They were all quiet as the splashing of ignitable liquid struck the cursed dolls. Kurosaki looked out over the morose scene from the glass-less window on the second floor, his voice lowered but still floating down to them as he narrated their actions to Hitsugaya.

Rangiku did the honors and dropped a flaming match into the broken heap. "Why did she do it?" Momo asked, unmindful of Kurosaki and only drawing strength from the close ring of fellow hunters. "Who knows. It wasn't vengeance as with some, hell, it wasn't even for someone else. I just really don't know…" the tongues of flame lent extra light to Rangiku's pensive face, her blond hair hung lank and ragged at the tips over her shoulders.

"Maybe…" Grimmjow began, "she was lonely. You said she called them her daughters," teal eyes shifted to the Clairvoyant and then to the other girls. "Think about it. Her husband had died, leaving her all alone with only glassy-eyed dolls for company. Sure the innkeeper was a bit much. But…"

"She had no real children. I suppose you may be right. In the beginning perhaps it was for simple beauty…" Rangiku took the poker from his lax grip and stirred the spiraling ashes, "but in the end only the dolls never left her."

~~~To be continued~~~

A/N: got it done! Yippee! :) Reviews are appreciated!


	11. Chapter 11 Coven pt1

Witch CH.11: Coven

_The girl ran, her feet skidding in the softened earth, pebbles flying back to skim across the water. The night watchman she'd hid from before, was nowhere in sight. She prayed now, for someone, anyone to appear, to save her from this nightmare. The immense pants of an animal came closer, spinning abruptly around; she caught her ankle and fell, her back hit the ground and breathless she lay, watching, fearfully as the great blackness darker than the night surrounding her, bore down on her. _

_No one heard her screams, they'd made sure of that. Only the two women watching from the festive Gazebo set back in the trees near the lake, saw, and did nothing. One held a clipboard and flicked off a red checkmark, another down and still no success. They stood up, melting away in the shadows, their work done for another night._

_Only moonlight glinted off the round silver medallion clutched in the failed initiate's open palm._

~~~*~~~

"What do you have to say for yourself, Jeagerjaques?" Chief of Police and Grimm's irritable boss, Kaname Tosen questioned with a look between that of dangerous calm and insinuating acidity. "Sir?" Grimmjow politely said, assuming a posture of complete obeisance to the large man behind the desk.

"Where might you have happened to be four days ago?"

Luckily he had prepared an alibi, "over the weekend, sir, I developed a rather nasty case of food poisoning. I was sick in bed those days." Not the truth precisely, but it might suffice to admit to the allowances of recovery from the hunt at Onta, waiting for HQ to fly over men to secure the body of the witch and…missing two flights back due to Kurosaki's temper and injuries.

Tosen knotted his hands under his chin and leaned forward onto the desk's top. "Why did you not call Sergeant Margera to mark your absence?" Grimmjow thought about the _young_ man in question and managed to appear a little guilty, "sorry. But puking my guts out every half-hour wiped everything else from my mind."

The older man's expression softened a margin, surveying the paler color of the policeman's countenance, he asked; "are you feeling better?"

Grimmjow put on a brave face, "yeah. The days of rest did wonders. That's why I decided to try and make an appearance here today." The door opened and a small dark head peered in. "Chief, there's a reporter here for an Interview. What should I tell her?" Lavender eyes spotted Grimm and crinkled at the corners.

"Bring her in. I'll speak with her." Tosen addressed the boy at the door; to Grimmjow, "walk the beat."

"Yes, sir!"

"Oh and take better care of yourself."

~~~*~~~

Grimmjow whistled along the hallway to the outer door into the station. Crates of miscellaneous papers were piled haphazardly against one wall while a row of streaked windows coated with grime allowed a minuscule amount of light to filter in. So little in fact that the honorary witch hunter failed to notice the slender black-haired boy standing between two particularly high stacks of cartons, watching him approach with a smile.

"And a good one to you too," the boy said good-naturedly the moment Grimmjow passed. He jolted, startled, his eyes flashed and his jaw worked furiously, "Luppi, you bastard!" For a minute his hand had nearly twitched for the small orbo gun hidden behind his regular service pistol.

The boy frowned, stalking forward, his small hips swinging, another smile tugging on the corners of his sulky mouth, "now is that any way to speak to a _friend_?"

"A-a-a-friend?!!" Grimmjow stuttered, backing up despite himself.

"Yes. A friend. Who else to cover for you…" the lavender eyes narrowed, "…when you were out running around with your law-breaking fri—witch hunters!" The last part was hissed softly so that Grimm suspected it wasn't so much the hunters that were offending the trainee, but something else.

"I went to your apartment Saturday afternoon." Luppi began carefully, making sure Grimmjow understood the imprecations, "and you hadn't shown up for work nor called Wonderweiss so I thought maybe something was wrong. But lo and behold…what do I hear from some lady passing in the hallway, that she had seen you leaving hurriedly in the early morning and rushing to a waiting gray Sedan in the parking lot."

He tried to keep his expression blank, "yeah, so what? It was a friend of mine picking me up to run me to the store."

Luppi leaned in closer, smiling teasingly, "ah, but Grimmy…" he dropped his voice to a soft octave, "_I know_ you didn't return those days when you were supposed to be sick in bed." Teal eyes flashed at the accusation, "you—you didn't—you asshole!"

"Hush, Grimmy-dear…" the boy got closer and on tiptoe finished whispering in Grimm's ear. "I picked the lock and went in. That's my special skill you know?" he giggled, "then I waited and waited…and you never came back. So you see…I know that you were with _them_. You lied to Chief Tosen…" he trailed off, leaving Grimmjow to think of the consequences if he ever found out.

"Blackmail!"

"Yes."

Luppi lightly laid his hand on Grimmjow's shirtsleeve, squeezing the firm forearm; "all I ask is that you spend a little time with _me_."

"Wha—aaaaaghhhhhh!!!!" the teal-haired Policeman screamed when the light brush of small lips grazed his cheek. Horror clouded his vision and he stumbled past Luppi, shaking in his boots. "Remember Grimm," lavender eyes stared back with fierce emotion, "next Saturday, you owe me."

Gleeful giggles followed him out the door and to the busy sidewalk, where he started walking, fumbling for his cell-phone and Kurosaki's number.

~~~Raven's 13~~~

"Hecate's torch. Hm, a symbol depicting the Arianrhod and five-pointed stars suggesting divinity…torch means illumination in the higher self…blah. Um, primarily used by initiates of Hecate's coven," Hanataro's voice took on a curious lilt. He tilted back in his chair to look at the three females standing behind him, each with their own pensive expression.

"So—it's used by a coven of witches? How come SCG didn't know about this?" Rangiku demanded. Hanataro hastily rolled his palm over the ball mouse pad, closing the definitely unorthodox website of popular cults. Momo went over to the scanner and lifted the top, withdrawing a round silver disk engraved on one side in blue enamel, "I guess so." She muttered, peering closely at the pendant, "but then why would—"

"Why would _what_?"

Instinctively everyone turned to confront the two—no—three men walking in—well—in Renji's case, with the aid of a tortoiseshell colored cane. Kurosaki, scowl in place, typical black trench on though he had it open and surprisingly no holster in sight. Beside him—possibly—the cause of the lead hunter's current antipathy, teal eyes squinting in the morning light pouring in from the bay windows was Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, police officer and honorary witch hunter. Renji went in at a much slower pace, long fire engine red hair tied up in a crude ponytail and most definitely disgruntled for having to use a cane to be able to walk around instead of _taking a long break like he suggested_…

"How'd it go?"

From the glares elicited by Rukia's rather quiet, innocuous question, they figured it hadn't gone well at all.

"Only one piece of damn evidence in the entire crime scene and we had a helluva time getting it!" Renji swung a chair around and plopped down, cane held tightly in his gloved fist. Seeing this, Grimmjow made as if to do the same but a cutting comment by Kurosaki stopped him, "shouldn't you be heading back to the station? Your _friend_ should be waiting for you"

"You—"

"Shut it both of you!" The sound of someone slamming their fist down on one of the desktops interrupted the morning fight. Several pairs of eyes traveled over to the ramrod straight form of Kurosaki's _supposed partner_. Rukia drew in a shaky breath, her violet eyes flashing dangerously, first from the orange-haired man's sneer curving his thin upper lip to Grimmjow's teal eyebrow arched in surprise.

"Kuchiki—" Kurosaki began, but Rangiku smoothly interrupted, drawing the attention away from dangerous waters, "where is it then? The evidence you recovered?" Grimmjow and Kurosaki were silent as Renji withdrew from the wide pocket of his black jacket a plastic bag, sealed and labeled _evidence_. It wasn't his words that drew a collective gasp among the women. No. It was the item itself.

A round disk enameled with blue on one side.

"It was found in the victim's hand."

~~~*~~~

"It's just like mine!" Momo burst out. Kurosaki crossed his arms over his chest, "explain." She held out the silver pendant, the rolo link chain tangled between her fingers. He took it from her, turning it over expertly scrutinizing the design, ascertaining it was the same. "Where did you get this?" he finally asked, his voice carefully controlled.

"At home. There's a mail slot in the door and this morning someone had dropped it in. I found it on the floor when I got up…" she looked down at her clasped hands, white-knuckled though he had yet to accuse her of anything. "I see," Kurosaki said, still speaking calmly. Rangiku kept an eye on him, narrowly watching as he went across the room to the coffee pot. He unhooked a brown mug from the rack hanging on the wall and with his back to them, poured a cup of steaming black liquid.

He took a sip of the bitter liquid without stirring in any creamer or sugar. Grimmjow wrinkled his nose in distaste; he himself had a definite sweet tooth. Kurosaki set the cup down after a few minutes, pausing to look at them each in turn, "Hanataro, what do we know about the coven that uses that symbol?"

The boy jumped to attention, "right." He tapped a few keys and rolled his palm over the ball, pulling up the encyclopedia of cults on the web. Some were secretive and gave little information but he kept at it and eventually found one and loaded it on window three, leaving the others open as later research. "Um, Kurosaki, it says to put in a name. It's some sort of lockdown in their server, only allowing I think those who have been initiated to log in. What should I do?"

"Can't you bypass it?"

Hanataro looked a little unsure, "no. I don't think so. I mean I could try…if you wanted—"

"Well do it then." Kurosaki said coldly.

"Wait—put in my name, Hanataro," Momo moved closer, her gaze challenging over the boy's head at Kurosaki, daring him to press his case. The orange-haired hunter simply shrugged, going back to nurse his bitter coffee. The soft sound of ticking broke the quiet and Hanataro's murmur of, "Hinamori, Momo. Got it." The screen went black as he hit enter, the surrounding stations all off before, winked on simultaneously displaying the same thing.

Black with a revolving character, an l with a pointed end.

"Laguz. Rune of water." Kurosaki said, taking a look at the screen nearest him. Rangiku noticed the odd note in his voice, her forehead puckering, "uh huh. But how did—"

"It can't be! It just can't!"

Kurosaki raised an eyebrow at Momo's outburst, "calm down, Hinamori. It just means that someone knows about it. Have you told anyone outside of--?"

She shook her head, her eyes following the runic symbol flashing across the screen. Rangiku wordlessly reached out, giving a reassuring pat to the other's sweater clad shoulder. Rukia watched the silent exchange between the two women, confusion darkening her expression. Kurosaki saw and smiled briefly down and then said, "Seems like there's more to us that you don't know about, Kuchiki."

Her heart gave a leap up at his words, and then plunged, her mind reading between the innocuous structure. _He suspected_. She decided to play it cool and bait him on how far his suspicions ran. "Oh? How so? Hitsugaya has told me quite a bit on each of the members of this team. Rangiku for instance—" Rukia smiled a little at the curvy blond Clairvoyant, "—has a gray tabby cat she named Hai-neko. By the way…how is she?"

Rangiku had moved to stand beside Momo, her arm around the younger girl, "oh…she's fine. Has me running my dating life into the ground though with her senseless demands. Would you believe she begs for a can of tuna everyday—and screams up a racket if I don't give it to her?"

"I could go out with you," Renji offered, hopeful in scoring his busty partner.

"Not on your life!" She smartly retorted back.

"I have a cat," Grimmjow cut in.

Rukia turned to him, "a he or a she?"

"He. Pantera is his name. Just some alley I picked up one time in the street. Looks like a panther too-black fur, blazing yellow eyes…" he looked down at his clasped hands, "though I doubt he has anything on Rangiku's ash cat."

"Cats in ancient times were believed to be witches familiars. That's why so many were massacred during famines or disasters—back then any little thing was attributed to the witches and them being in league with the devil," Kurosaki added thoughtfully. Rukia, feeling as though he'd gotten enough away from the suspicions of minutes ago, asked curiously, "Do you believe in him?"

"Who?"

"God—the devil—whatever?"

The witch hunters all looked to their leader with blatant curiosity in their various expressions. Kurosaki took his time in answering, finishing his coffee before setting the cup down on the edge of the desk. "No. I don't. Only in the evil, man creates—and the misery he makes for himself."

~~~*~~~

The sound of a phone ringing disrupted the silence following Kurosaki's philosophical words. Hanataro glanced at the stationary main line then to Momo, "it's coming from your cell." She dug in her pocket, withdrawing the red glitterati flip-top and checking the caller ID on the mini screen. "Unknown name and a blocked number…" she muttered, Rangiku peered over her shoulder, "wrong number?" the blond Clairvoyant hazarded.

Kurosaki leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed, "answer it. Hanataro, trace the call." Momo looked at him curiously but she raised the phone to her ear, pressing accept on the call waiting.

"Hello?"

Hanataro typed in a system command, tapping into the connected lines. A loading bar appeared on the bottom edge of the screen on a separate window over the revolving Laguz character. In seconds a voice pattern recorder and the volume fluctuating took in the melodic tenor of the woman on the other end of the line.

"Greetings, daughter of Hecate. I welcome you and sincerely wish that your day has gone well?"

Kurosaki touched his finger to his lips when Rangiku gasped, his look of warning then transferred onto the rest of the hunters—Grimm included. Momo breathed in softly, "Hecate? Isn't that the Wiccan Goddess of death?"

A gentle chuckle read on the recorder, the woman amused by her wit.

"The great goddess does many things. Through her all abilities are gained for she is the mother of all witches. Even those who are afraid of their _great_ power."

"I'm not afraid of my—" angrily she halted, realizing what she was admitting to.

"Your craft? Your own power bestowed upon you by the Goddess? My dear…you are more naïve than I thought…" a sigh. Hanataro gestured with his hand to the screen depicting a satellite map of Tokyo; a red dot was located at the outskirts. Momo looked just as everyone else did, her knuckles tight on the red plastic of the phone's back.

"I'd like to meet you," the woman continued still in sweetened honey tones, "name the place and time and I'll be there."

"Ura—"

Kurosaki shook his head abruptly.

"Sorry, dear. I didn't catch the name. What was it again?"

Momo looked at him helplessly. Hanataro suddenly started digging frantically through the mound of accumulated junk on his desk top, finally waving a paper napkin triumphantly. The brunette hunter read the name silently then brightened, "How about _Sugoi's_?"

"I love Sugoi's!" the woman said ecstatically, "Do you go there often?"

Here, Momo hesitated then Kurosaki held up two fingers. Understanding, she replied cheerfully, "only twice with friends. But their food is _awesome_…" she placed emphasis on the word not knowing if that were actually true.

"It is isn't it! Anyway…what time do you want to meet?"

Kurosaki glanced at the clock, the hunters watched him. Finally he indicated three, tapping his Rolex for clarification. Momo smiled, "I'm free at three today. How's that?"

"Perfect. See you then, _Tobi_."

The line clicked off and went dead before she cried out. Her hands flew to her mouth, her eyes closing as if in pain. Rangiku leaned in, cooing low. Kurosaki met Rukia's gaze, his smirk widening. _He knew she had no idea what was going on and didn't like it one bit_.

~~~*~~~

"Okay so on account of Abarai's injury, he'll stay here and provide surveillance back up. Matsumoto will go in alone—looking for someone. While Rukia and I take up a reserved table near the back where it's assumed Momo and that woman will meet. Right?" Hitsugaya looked over the assembled hunters, dressed down in plain clothes, holsters out of sight completely.

Kurosaki rolled his eyes irritably, "_I will_ act as a decoy with Rukia, not you, Hitsugaya. Remember, you're not a SCG hunter anymore." Hitsugaya ignored him, turning instead to Grimmjow whom was sulking a bit since his role in the sting operation hadn't been clarified just yet. "Jeagerjaques, you'll await the signal from Abarai. Depending on how long Momo meets with that woman, you'll be called in to join Matsumoto at the bar."

"Alright! Action on the frontline!" Grimmjow hooted, his striped sky blue shirt straining a little as he flexed his muscles tauntingly before Kurosaki. The orange-haired hunter averted his face to the side, preferring to gaze at the wall rather than the police officer's studly physique.

"What about Kurosaki?" Rukia questioned suddenly, Hitsugaya seemed a little surprised at her forceful tone but smiled gently at her, "he'll have his part—like if the entire thing falls apart—racing in there gun waving to save us since none of us are going in armed."

"Kuchiki is," Kurosaki muttered. Rangiku surreptitiously kicked him on the back of the shin with her heeled boots, earning a glare and curse. "Well it's true isn't it? She's a w—" he declared angrily then Hitsugaya silenced him, "Shut it, Kurosaki. You are insinuating ugly accusations against someone that is supposed to be _your partner_. Rukia is a valuable member of our team and _I won't_ stand for her to be insulted in my presence. Do you understand?"

Cold brown eyes rolled up to meet the former hunter's turquoise green, their look containing barely concealed malice. "If you say so, Chief," Kurosaki shrugged, his casual tone belying the asperity in his eyes. Renji, who sat across from Kurosaki, breathed in shakily, the tension in the air palpable. Hitsugaya rolled up his shirtsleeves pretending in absolute ignorance to spare quarter in the uncomfortable atmosphere created by his intercession.

He checked his pocket once for the keys to the Audi, Rukia murmured helpfully, "in your right." Hitsugaya touched cold metal, and smiled sheepishly, "pity I don't have you as an assistant. It would spare me a lot of grief in keeping track of these things." Kurosaki glanced at the clock then turned to them, his smile tight, "it's nearly two, Hitsugaya. Shouldn't you be going?"

The temperature in the room suddenly dropped a few degrees, Grimmjow remarked on the hairs on his arms standing up though no one paid attention to him, they were too concerned in edging out of the room while he was still sensible. Hitsugaya picked up his jacket, folding it over his arm neatly, "thank you, Kurosaki, for reminding me. Come on, Rukia," he possessively wrapped his free arm about her shoulders, steering her toward the door.

Grimmjow cast an inquiring glance at the pair's back but Rangiku shook her head, looking to Kurosaki's stiff form for emphasis. Grimm nodded, inching away from him. Momo quietly stood, brushing her hands over her jeans and button down Henley. Her dark hair was pulled back in two little ponytails on either side of her neck, her expression betraying inner-turmoil. Her heels clicked as she went around the table and into the main office, saying goodbye to Hanataro before her footsteps crossed the length of the outer room and then out into the hallway.

"I guess we'll be—" Grimmjow stepped back as Kurosaki rose, his long vest rumpled at the bottom. He passed by Rangiku and opened the door she stood beside, the entrance to the Administrator's office.

"Kuro--"

It closed with a decisive snap in her face.

"—Saki?"

Rangiku reached for the knob but was interrupted by a thud and limping walk. "You guys had better get going," Renji leaned in the opposite doorway. Her hand clenched at her side as she turned away from the door and what lay beyond, "you're right. Lets go, Grimm."

~~~Coven~~~

Smoke plumes surrounded him, dancing in spherical rings from the slim pipe perched between the man's lips. "I trust I can leave everything up to you?" Aizen queried, his wise all-knowing eyes focused on the hunter before him. "Of course. Just as always." Kurosaki murmured, his gaze on the large antique cherry wood desk, a serpentine ink blotter within reach of an amethyst pyramid holding captive the newest release of test results from the factory.

He couldn't bear to look at the lighter rings of violet color running up the sleek polished sides of the stone; it reminded him of _her_. Aizen pressed a key on the touch pad board situated in front of the flat Lcd screen computer, an image flashed and a tiny camera followed the movements of Rangiku and Grimmjow as they exited the main lobby and into the parking garage.

"What do you…think of _her_?"

Kurosaki kept his expression stoic, unyielding, "of who?"

The man smiled, reclining lazily on the plush arm of the black leather chair, "Ms. Kuchiki. Kano's _replacement_." There was an underlying hint to Aizen's pleasant tone, meant to prod and pick at Kurosaki's guard. He was still for a minute; his brown eyes rising from the dreary stained wood graining to the man's gentle smile.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Aizen calmly retracted his pipe from his mouth, tapping the lit ashes onto a stone tray near his elbow, "I've no idea what you mean by that. My dear boy."

~~~Flashback~~~

"_Ichigo?" Senna lowered the hand she'd raised; pointing the path the witch had taken. The oppressive heat bore down on them; sweat trickled down her high collar, but she didn't bother to wipe it away. Her eyes, vivid, all seeing of emotions, read the discontent radiating from her partner's still form. She went a few steps toward him, batting away leaves from her face; the next she moved revealed shiny gray metal, polished to a high sheen, dull bullets loaded in the chamber._

"_I—Ichigo?!!" her mouth parted, her body moving back._

"_Ichigooooo!!!!"_

~~~*~~~

Kurosaki flinched, his eyes snapping open to stare incredulously at Aizen, whom was refilling his pipe from a rolled packet. "You..."

"Yes?" he smiled up in return.

"Nothing. I will await any changes to the existing plans. You know how to reach me," Kurosaki went for the door. Aizen called him back, "Ichigo. Your emotions; do not let them control you."

"I promise you. They won't."

~~~*~~~

Sugoi's distance from Raven's 13 made it a better meeting place than Urahara's café. Though, she wasn't alone in the upscale restaurant with rounded leather chairs and low set tables, Hitsugaya and Rukia were just across the room at a corner table, she couldn't help but feel nervous.

Nervous because of that name…

Tobi.

The nickname given to her by an old friend, the daughter of a potential overseas grantee for Solomon HQ. Could it be that…

"Hinamori Momo?"

She looked up at the sound of her name being called by a distinctly familiar voice. "I am Ayako Matsumura. We spoke on the phone earlier?" the delicate way of speaking was not so far from the woman's appearance. Thick curls of honey brown clung heavily to the navy shoulders of the strict business suit with a ruffle-collared cream color blouse beneath it. Momo felt underdressed.

"Pleased to meet you in person, Ms. Matsumura."

"Likewise," Ayako beamed.

~~~*~~~

"So far so good," Hitsugaya murmured, he sat facing Rukia who had her back to the women. Pretending to check her makeup in the purple compact, she lifted it, tilting the reflection to include the space behind her. "She seems wealthy," Rukia said in a low undertone. The Waitress passed by their table, leaving their drinks. Hitsugaya waited until the girl had left before he questioned curiously, "how can you tell?"

"Her clothing. It's foreign bought."

Rukia snapped her compact shut, setting it carefully down on the table, then took a sip of the mint julep she'd ordered. Seeing her companion's focused stare, his abject worry radiating from the look of deep concentration pulled a hesitant smile to her lips.

"Excuse me, Hitsugaya. I have to go to the powder room."

"Go ahead."

He didn't notice her smile widen and the compact disappear in her hand as she walked to the other end of the dining hall where the Waitress had pointed out the restrooms. Once inside, the recessed lighting cast shadows on the empty stalls and blue granite sinks.

Rukia turned the mobile communicator on, attaching the minuscule wire to the plug in beneath the compact's bottom. The square screen lit up, the loader bar flashing. GPS technology linked their cells, but Solomon had a programmer bypass traditional security measures so that agents with enough clearance to do so could hack into the firewall.

She did it now. Sending a message to Rangiku's cell via Kurosaki's letterbox: Change of plans. Join Hinamori to scope out lead. Use name as reference Ayeka Matsumura.

Rukia hit send, shutting the system down as the door began to swing open.

~~~*~~~

Rangiku felt the buzzer rattle her pocket. Lifting her cell out, she immediately saw the red light flashing indicating a message. Leaning forward onto the bar counter, she hunched over the small phone, recognizing Kurosaki's personal code. What could he want now?

Change of plans. Join Hinamori to scope out lead. Use name as reference Ayeka Matsumura.

Rangiku stared at the tiny script sent in uncial typeface. A favorite of his. There was a change of plans? She frowned, glancing over her shoulder to see Rukia pass by to go back to her table with the Chief. Her expression was bland, disinterested in her surroundings. A round lump slightly visible in her hip pocket was recognizable as her cell phone.

Suspicion made her stare at the girl's back. Hitsugaya caught her eye once, shooting a glare for her not to blow their cover. He must not know about Kurosaki's new plan…Abruptly she stood up, gathering her purse by the strap and taking one last swallow of the Peach Melba drink served on the rocks. Depositing a folded bill on the counter, she headed to the back of the room, averting her face from the Chief's incredulous searching look.

"Excuse me," Rangiku said, smiling to Momo's confusion, "are you by any chance related to Ayeka Matsumura?" The woman looked a little surprised, "oh, did you know my sister?" From behind her, she heard the sound of a fist slamming a table and cutlery rattling. Hitsugaya could've been a little more discreet about his annoyance, she thought.

"I met her once. You look a lot like her that's why I thought—" she lied glibly.

"Thank you. Most people say that. But unfortunately Ayeka died in an accident two years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Pardon my curiosity but was it perhaps…on a lake?"

Momo hastily hid her shock, covering it up by lifting her glass to her lips. Ayako blinked, her hand creeping up to her perfectly pink mouth, "why yes. It was a boating accident. My fiancé…was drowned also," she lowered her eyes demurely, pretending, Rangiku could fathom, to wipe away fake remorse. Momo fell for it, patting the woman's sleeve gently, "I'm terribly sorry for your loss."

"Thanks, dear." Ayako smiled a watery smile up at Rangiku, "why don't you join us? You're probably not acquainted with Ms. Hinamori here but I'm sure she wouldn't mind having extra company." The blond Clairvoyant sat down in the empty chair across from the woman, her sorrow seemingly gone for a benevolent smile touched her lips once the other had settled.

"Ms. um—"

"Rangiku Matsumoto."

"Ms. Rangiku then. Tell me…are you by any chance psychic?" Ayako dropped her tone some on the last word, placing emphasis on the implicit suggestion.

"That depends on what you term psychic. I am a Clairvoyant. I see spirits and the other side where the future lies."

"Ah, a vision seeker then. Marvelous," Ayako glanced around, her eyes darting from side to side, "say.

How about you girls accompany me to my office? We can talk more there." Momo cupped her drink with timidity unusual for her common attitude. Rangiku shrugged her shoulders, "that sounds…great! Shall we go then…Ms. Hinamori?"

~~~*~~~

"What was that woman thinking?!" Hitsugaya fumed as he and Rukia left the restaurant. Their suspect along with Momo and the errant Rangiku had left twenty minutes before. He strode to the black Audi, flicking the key control, the headlights flashed with a click. Rukia opened her side and got in, while he fumbled with the door handle and his suddenly ringing cell.

"Yeah?" he answered, giving a hard jerk to the door. She flinched when it slammed, rattling the windshield. "I don't know. She didn't say anything…no of course not. She's here." Rukia looked at him curiously but he waved her off. "You want us to drop by the Coroner's office? He called and said he had something to show you…got it. But wait—where will—where will you be?" Hitsugaya repeated, hearing the person whom she assumed was Kurosaki give his answer, she saw the former hunter's face screw up.

"I see," he said testily, "we'll report b—"

Then he muttered, "bastard," darkly, as the cell announced the other line had disconnected.

"What is it?"

"He wants us to see the Coroner. Said he's got something important to show us."

~~~*~~~

The Tokyo forensics lab was located next door to the squat white building with a glass fronted door and a tan blind over it. A simple sign indicated this to be where the infamous _Schiffer-san_ worked. Rukia stood a little behind Hitsugaya as they were rung in, a thin shadow passed near the blind, the silver knob turning and the door opened outward to reveal a slender black-haired man dressed in a long white lab coat.

His piercing green eyes, of a bright vivid shade scrutinized them carefully, "who are you?" Hitsugaya cleared his throat, placing his hand on his hip above the bottom edge of his black jacket, "Chief of SCG office Raven's 13, Toshiro Hitsugaya. And this is Rukia Kuchiki, our newest hunter. You called Kurosaki earlier-?"

There was an odd, challenging note to Hitsugaya's tone that she didn't understand. The man—she figured must've been _Schiffer-san_, nodded once; and then stepped back, letting them in. The main reception room was done in light blue colors, from the upholstered chairs lining the wall to the framed beach print of the sea hanging above the receptionist's desk. Not that there actually was one.

In fact they were the only people around it seemed.

_It wasn't busy_. Schiffer-san explained, walking ahead of them with brisk, efficient strides. Throwing open the morgue door at the end of the hallway, he gestured them inside. All at once, Rukia was assaulted by the smells of rot, the sourness of the chemical preservatives, the astringent on the coroner's hands, as he slipped on a pair of latex gloves, his stainless steel watch reflecting in the overhead light for a second then disappearing.

Hitsugaya stayed back while the coroner placed his hand above the metal chutes, banging his fist against the third in the middle row. The handle popped and he tugged it hard, bring a screech of metallic ringing upon the silence in the room. A sheet lay draped neatly over a small body-shaped figure on the tray. Tossing the cover back dramatically, he revealed it to be the female victim from the early morning murder.

"See this," he pointed his index finger at a circular patch of red on the ghostly white skin, "that's unusual for the death to have been caused by blunt force trauma to the head." Rukia leaned in a little closer beside Schiffer-san; Hitsugaya was on the other side, frowning down at the lifeless corpse. "So what? The police issued a statement based off of what you told them saying that—" he shrugged, "a blunt object had been used as the murder instrument."

"I lied," he replied flatly.

Hitsugaya stared at him, "what?"

"You didn't want the truth of the body's real condition made known," Rukia said quietly. The coroner smiled a little, "you're right, Kuchiki-san. You have permission to address me as Ulquiorra, by the way." Meeting his green-eyed gaze for a minute, her lips quirked upward in response. He really wasn't as bad as what Grimmjow painted him to be: _a bastard in league with Kurosaki_.

"So was that all?"

Ulquiorra reluctantly dragged his eyes from Rukia to Hitsugaya who looked at them with frowning displeasure. "No. There are other things," he walked to the X-ray board, sliding two charts onto the illuminated screen. "This indicates restricted blood flow to the heart caused a massive heart attack. Yet…there are no other signs that plausibly tie into that theory. More like…" Ulquiorra frowned thoughtfully, "she was frightened almost to the point of death and then crushed by something large."

"Crushed?" Hitsugaya echoed, peering closely at the x-rays.

Rukia glanced at the board, her knowledge limited on medical science. Ulquiorra nodded, "crushed by something and then left for dead. Also I would like to show you—" he led them back to the roll out tray and the victim's frigid body. "—This," he peeled the frozen eyelid back to reveal the congealed eyeball, the brown cornea having changed shape as that of a single M with crisscrossed bars connecting at the points. Rukia gasped, turning away, her hand raised to her mouth. Hitsugaya looked after her then sighed, "we'll inform Kurosaki of this. Please tell the Chief of Police that SCG is stepping in. From now on we have jurisdiction."

~~~*~~~

She popped the lid of her compact open, her nail scraping the tiny clasp to shut it again. The teeny screen of blue telling her that the images of the Autopsy report hadn't developed yet. They had pulled over at Urahara's café, Hitsugaya running inside to pick up an order for the Administrator. He had said he would be right back but twenty minutes had passed and there was still no sign of him.

Rukia cracked the window open a little to allow a cool breeze to permeate the car's stuffy interior. Checking the progress again, she found the document in miniature, displayed in plain text. This version gave the real cause of death, not what Ulquiorra had told the Police. She sat up, peering out the back windows to make sure she was still totally alone, then, carefully inserted a microchip into the slot located on the front of the dashboard Computer.

Seconds ticked by, her violet eyes catching movement from behind the tinted bay windows along the front of the café. Pushing the eject button quickly, the tiny square looked innocuous in her hand. She breathed in, exhaling slowly through her nose; then fit the loaded device into her compact's mainframe. The autopsy report became lost in a world of numbers, running diagonally across the little screen.

The system command drew forth an email address, an anonymous tip line for witnesses' protection. Rukia punched the address into her cell, switching the Internet side on. The file containing the uploaded autopsy report left with rapidity to the Police department's inbox. Soon there'd be more than _the Park murders _on the news.

Hitsugaya came soon after; smiling apologetically, in his arms was a lunch box of heavenly scented food. "Hey, sorry it took so long. Urahara hadn't filled the order so I had to wait an extra twenty minutes—you all right?" he asked suddenly. His dry tone belied carefully hidden worry. "Yeah. It's nothing," she murmured, her eyes fixed straight ahead.

She was duty bound to carry out her mission.

_Even if it meant_…

"_He_ seemed to like you," Hitsugaya commented conversationally as he rolled the car to a gentle stop inside a middle parking space in the underground garage. Rukia lifted her head up from leaning against the window, "who are you talking about?"

"Schiffer. He couldn't stop staring at you the entire time we were there."

"You're imagining things," she scoffed, and then lapsed into respective silence. _They must not learn her real nature_. Hitsugaya shrugged, turning the ignition off, "whatever. I only know what _I saw_." Another glance around the dimly lit area told him that the two hunters hadn't returned, though, as they entered the side door, the gleam of sleek liquid black caught his eye.

"Kurosaki's here. And I'll bet he won't be pleased," Hitsugaya prophesized.

~~~*~~~

He was right, in a way.

The orange-haired hunter stood scowling over Hanataro's quivering shoulder, the computer flashing out in rapid succession a hack into their firewall. Belatedly, Rukia realized her impromptu code breaking had left a leak somewhere. _Possibly it was even Hiyori doing this_...

"Something wrong with our security system, Yamada?" Hitsugaya left his jacket hanging over one of the chairs. Renji gave a friendly wave from across the room with his cane, the coffee pot swinging dangerously over the beige carpeting. With practiced ease, a worried look settled on her features and she stepped after Hitsugaya to join Kurosaki at Hanataro's side.

"What is it? A virus?"

"No…it isn't that. Someone's trying to get into our records of Orbo usage. I can't figure out how they got so far in—" he whined, "—my firewall should've been perfect!" Kurosaki propped one hand at his waist the other hung limply at his side, "probably some worm infected the network through one of the terminals. Everyone should leave their cells here for a diagnostic scan—if you need a spare—Ishida can bring one up from storage."

"Good idea," Hitsugaya muttered, immediately unhooking his turquoise one from his belt and placing it on the desk near the bose speakers. Kurosaki left his silver flip side and then looked expectantly to Rukia. "Leave yours, Kuchiki," he said, an unpleasant smile curling his upper lip.

_The data trace was still there_…

_It was a test,_ she suddenly realized, _a test of wits_.

_Who could expose the other first for the liar they were bound to be_?

A saccharine smile touched her mouth, her arms crossing lightly over her thin chest, "I'm sorry, Kurosaki. I seemed to have left it in the Chief's car. I'll go retrieve it right now," she turned on her heel and walked away, her smile only faltering once she'd reached the end of the hallway and the elevator doors.

_What was she going to do…?_

~~~*~~~

Kurosaki's eyes rolled up to see her walk in, the look in them expectant. Hitsugaya had vanished off into his part of the office behind a couple of Chinese folding screens. Renji sat before the station next to Hanataro's, his skills rudimentary in trying to help repel the intruder.

Rukia clutched the purple phone tight in her fist. Kurosaki held his palm open to receive the cell; wordlessly she dropped the broken plastic pieces into his gloved hand. "Sorry," she said, her smile as tight as his, "I accidentally dropped it on the steps coming back in."

~~~*~~~

It didn't take long for Rangiku to figure out that they weren't heading back to any office in Tokyo. Ayako took the highway out of the sprawling city, her smile reflected satisfaction. Momo sat in the passengers' seat, her fingers absently twirling around a lock of loose hair, childishly. _She was afraid but of what_?

"I thought we were going to your office? Because if this is where you work…then I'm impressed!"

They had rounded a bend and turning down a narrow road came up in a circular graveled drive. A house stood back in the large clearing, modern-made yet with a sight unfamiliar in Japan—red brick Queen Anne styling displayed over two and a half stories. Ayako beamed with clear pride of ownership, "isn't it grand? My uncle built it for me as a home for me and my husband to be—you know what happened."

Rangiku remembered in time to fix the appropriate look on her face of moderate sorrow for the woman.

"You must miss him a lot."

"Oh, yes. It was such a tragedy…" Ayako trailed off.

I'll bet. Probably did him in herself…in fact, she glanced to the seat next to her, translucent or not, it was a girl wearing a spaghetti strap sundress, that it was a ghost didn't bother Rangiku in the slightest. Except…for the girl's uncanny likeness to the woman sitting in the driver's seat, explaining to Momo about the designer chosen for her house, and the pure hate radiating from the specter's luminous face.

Oh boy. This could get complicated.

Ayako finally ran out of steam, apologizing to the hunters for keeping them outside. She led them single file up the brick pathway, ringing the doorbell when her knock didn't precipitate an immediate response. Footsteps shook the glass panes, a shadow crossed over the inset, the door swung open slowly by the pudgy hand of a middle-aged woman. Gray hair done up in a chignon secured by two heavy lacquered Chinese sticks, her mandarin collared jacket fastened over her bulging mid-section heaved forward, threatening to burst open at the seams.

"My dear! You gave us quite a fright!" the old woman wheezed.

Rangiku raised an eyebrow at the use of us, meaning more than one. Ayako chuckled, finding her elder's indignation amusing, "you'll forgive me, Yuya-san. These two—have been gifted by the Goddess—" she waved grandly at Momo whom shrunk beneath the piercing blue eye made more imposing by a tiny monocle suspended by a gold chain, then sighed a little relieved as the scrutiny passed from her to the Clairvoyant.

After a moment of steady eye contact, Yuya nodded, "I can sense the craft field around this one. More so than the other—you girl, you're Hinamori Momo?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Later on, speak up. I can't hear your mousy voice. And you are?"

The old lady changed tracks fast, beady eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Matsumoto Rangiku," she answered crisply, "But if I may say so, Ms. Matsumura, Yuya-san, just why have we been brought here?"

~~~*~~~

They were blindfolded with plain white cloths. Ayako guided Rangiku from behind, while Yuya Asahi dragged along Momo. These women…Matsumura from the great investing firm, Asahi from Asahi communications…they weren't simple peasants to be burned at the stake. Rich witches.

Definitely not good…

The hallway they were in abruptly ended and the sound of a door being opened and a gentle push by Ayako, warned Rangiku of the shallow steps they were descending. Darkness hovered at the edges of the bind so she quickly deduced them entering the basement with perhaps a little candlelight near the bottom. Touching down on bottom, her heels encountered carpeting not dirt or flagstone as the stone floors from the hallway above had been. A slight rustle of clothing indicated Momo just a bit away to Rangiku's left.

Their blinds were taken off with a flourish and Ayako backed away, an expectant gleam in her flashing dark eyes. The shift from black to glaring light, made Rangiku squint, women in trailing black cloaks stood on raised pillars in a circle around them. Hoods hid otherwise identifiable features and not seeing the old lady anymore, figured she must have joined her sisters in the Coven's council convening.

"Panzier Magier, Matsumura Ayako, you have brought two new inductees to our attention. What makes you believe these young women are worthy of joining us?" questioned the single crimson-cloaked woman in the group. The old lady must be the Coven mother…thought Rangiku, recognizing the portly woman's wheeze.

Ayako clasped her hands to her chest, in a dramatic gesture, "you honor me, Coven mother! By granting me the authority to seek out Hecate's blessed ones!"

There you have it: Coven Mother.

"Get on with it," the old woman snapped in annoyance.

It's probably getting near her time for a bridge club meeting.

"Well! As you know our newest member, Tsubokura-chan, recalled her friend of olden days, Hinamori Momo and the secret of the craft she had shared when they were young. Now…I present to you this girl and the craft of water she possesses!"

A dozen heads turned instantly upon Momo, blushing furiously, she lowered her eyes respectfully to the floor. Yuya tottered a little closer to the edge of her dais, "indeed? Laguz is it? Prove it then." Rangiku watched worriedly as her fellow hunter closed her eyes tightly, her mouth reciting silent words to control and dominate all water. Pale light encircled her feet, illuminating in a solid curved arc the field of the twenty-first rune Laguz.

The women as a collective gasped when the first minuscule tornado spiral of clear liquid appeared up from the previously dry flooring. Rangiku felt the inner vortex of Momo's concentration funneling into her own withheld field, expanding it, bringing into sharper focus the remaining unread members of the Coven. Ayako, Rangiku now saw, possessed an S-class user's ability of the craft of fear: Mannaz also known as the rune of mankind, however, that was simply misleading as the primary strength of it was reading into the subject's unconscious fears and turning them into horrific visions.

Yuya had heightened intuitive senses along with a hint of Ansuz, the spoken word. She'd have to be more careful around that one—particularly involving questions of truth. Another woman off to the left controlled Uruz, the dangerous unrelenting crush of irresistible force. A spark of light caught her attention and focusing on it, she recognized Kaunaz, a fire thrower.

Not good either.

Suddenly the room grew quiet and Momo hung her head, her strength was spent. Water settled in puddles all over the room, creating soggy spots on the crimson Mohair. Rangiku felt their expectation and knew even before the old woman announced it; it was her turn.

What to do…

Visions couldn't be summoned out of thin air like water or ice could. The drawbacks to her craft had often irked Kurosaki when she wasn't able to exploit it for a case by seeing the future. But then again…these old witches wouldn't be so hard to impress.

She pretended to concentrate, only feeling a low murmur of the power that had surrounded them all moments before. Rangiku tapped into it, drawing out the essence, allowing it to fuel her own power, images then came.

"I see black, metal clinking, screams. Smoke and now…fire." She pronounced in epic tones merely for the sake of drama. It had the effect she desired. Ayako hissed softly, her arms crossing in her navy suit, the women on the small pillars shifted anxiously until Yuya spoke as the voice of reason.

"Can you be a little more specific, Matsuka-san?" the old lady's biting tone didn't escape Rangiku's notice, her gray eyes fluttered open to stare at the crimson figure. "It's Matsumoto-san," she replied still sounding respectful yet cutting at the same time, "and the events I am allowed a glimpse of…cannot be rushed. Even you must know this, Coven Mother."

"Indeed I do…"

~~~*~~~

"I can't believe you had the guts to talk back to her!" hissed Momo as they stood apart in Ayako's upstairs parlor, tastefully decorated in floral motifs. Rangiku swirled her Merlot, with regret dumping it into the silk potted plant next to her. She would not touch anything they offered her.

Momo with an uneasy glance around; followed suit, leaving her full glass on the oak sideboard. Nobody noticed and when a wispy blond woman walked up playing as waiter to the guests, offered her another glass which she took with a murmur of thanks. Rangiku smiled a little, shaking her head at the refill proffered.

"I've been trying to cut back." She explained.

"A glass a day is the best for health reasons," Ayako chimed in, leaving the group of women in the corner to sail across the room to join them. "Although I myself sometimes indulge in a little extra libation every once in a while." Her indulgent smile made it plain for Rangiku to take another glass. The tray was extended and slowly she slipped her fingers around the stem.

"So how are you finding our little gathering, Rangiku, Momo?"

The two hunters came abruptly close to flinching at the note of pride in the Magier's voice. "I've never felt so much a part of something before," Rangiku managed to say after a tense moment of silence. Momo nodded vigorously in agreement. Ayako surveyed them with a banal smile, "I'd imagine so. Laymen like what inhabit the world cannot fully appreciate our existence. Such as that horrid organization-Solomon-starting the witch hunts after years of freedom from persecution! Filth!" she spat.

Uncomfortably, they exchanged looks; what Ayako had said was true. Solomon had resurrected the witch-hunts of olden days; their thinking however was quite different than that of religious men who had instigated the persecution of helpless women. Indeed in HQ there wasn't nary a torture device to be found. Their understanding of the twenty-four crafts and planetary influences that guided the flow of power into individuals was what constituted the term: Witch.

Witches did not make pacts with the devil to gain their powers; Solomon had always stressed that particular issue in defiance of the zealots whose actions caused the mass killings worldwide. Rangiku pretended to sympathize with Ayako's beliefs while in turn struggling to keep a façade of seeming interest in the darker words imparted by the witch.

It was hard not to condemn the two German inquisitors, Heinrich Kramer and Jakob Sprenger whose immortal work on the thesis of witchcraft the Malleus Maleficarum paved the way for the Catholic Church to take in hand the judgment of innocent men and women accused of being witches. The reigning Pope Innocent VIII had lent his support to the men in eradicating the maleficent influences from his lands yet some had still resisted even going as far to accuse Kramer of being senile.

Rangiku had seen a preserved copy of the Malleus on display at Solomon HQ. The tortures explained in graphic detail as to the proceedings to be taken by high officers in handling cases of suspected witchcraft, had turned her stomach. _They had come a long way from that_.

"Ms. Ayako," one of the women called.

"What is it, Fuu?"

"The Coven mother has made her judgment, she wishes for the audiences of yourself and the girls to be in the drawing room," the woman's tentative voice didn't match her looks. Unlike Ayako, they weren't as perfectly matched. Rangiku smiled to Fuu as they passed, receiving a warm maternal reply as answer.

"She's not like us," Ayako commented abruptly; Momo closed the door behind them and kept in step as they proceeded down another longer hallway. "What do you mean?" she questioned a little worriedly.

"She's not a blessed one."

"She's not a witch," Rangiku corrected without thinking.

Ayako looked at her for a second then smiled faintly, "yes. It's that exactly. Her mother was one of our Coven's founders and when the Magisterium passed on to Hecate's realm on the moon—her daughter was placed in Yuya-san's custody.

"Why hers?"

"Because."

Ayako indicated for them to shush, her hand trembled, betraying her nervousness in the other woman's presence. She opened the door. The portly old lady stood at the arched window, assuming a stance of elegant disdain when she turned to address them, "you sure took your time in coming here, my dear."

Rangiku had the sense to feel a touch of real sympathy for the woman as she blushed charmingly. "I offer my apology in my faults, Coven mother. Please convey the wishes of the Council upon us," Ayako said respectfully. Momo flinched when Yuya surveyed them again.

"These two," she began in a booming voice, "have been chosen to undergo the rights of initiation to our Coven. Formalities aside there are three tasks you must perform to the best of your abilities, selected appropriately to your personal powers. One has been completed. You have proved your crafts to us. Foresight and the control of water are particularly of use to us since not one currently in the group has these gifts. Secondly, you must prove your womanhood and worship of the Goddess by participating in the wild Hunt then thirdly you will be presented with a task that will require the use of your power in a life—or death situation."

Rangiku did not like the sound of that.

Shortly thereafter they were dismissed with a haughty sniff and Ayako led them back downstairs and out the foyer to her car. They never got a chance to meet Tsubokura-chan who had recommended Momo to the Coven, but Rangiku had her suspicions as to the skulking figure of a short girl that promptly dove into one of the bottom floor rooms as they descended the stairs.

Momo said nothing, her hazel eyes fixed glumly ahead, neither word nor gesture Rangiku dared to part on her behalf seeing as Ayako watched them closely the entire ride back to Tokyo…

~~~Raven's 13~~~

His face remained set in a harsh frown, his brown eyes on the background report drawn up by Hanataro, before their firewall was breached. Rukia pretended interest in studying old case files handed to her by Hitsugaya's assistant Ishida, but time after time, her gaze would wander to the man's impassive countenance. Seeing it darken every once and a while when he came across something not matching previous documents.

Finally she couldn't stand it.

"Was there discrepancies in Matsumura's background?"

Kurosaki looked up quickly, she was peering over his shoulder, leaning in close. "Yeah," he answered, suddenly finding his mouth had gone dry. Rapid typing and muffled mutterings punctuated the general quiet in the office. "What's off then?" Rukia brushed aside the single stubborn bang hanging directly in her face. Kurosaki distractedly reshuffled the papers on the desk, averting his eyes from her; _he'd been staring too long for his own good._

"A couple of things. For instance," he started reading off the highlighted paragraph, "at the ages of ten and seven, Ayako and her younger sister Ayeka Minatsuki were orphaned by a car accident that took both their parents lives. Witnesses at the scene claimed Mr. Minatsuki simply lost control of the vehicle when his wife began screaming and flailing at him for no apparent reason. Terror, they said, seemed to have taken a hold of her senses."

"Mannaz," Rukia intoned.

Kurosaki nodded, "the craft of fear. One month later, Minatsuki's prosperous Uncle, who was childless, legally adopted both girls as his daughters—the old man died last year of third degree burns that had consumed him as he lay sleeping in bed. The conflagration didn't touch any of the sheets or wall hangings, so his death remains a mystery."

The petite hunter frowned, "spontaneous combustion?" she suggested, taking the seat next to him. Kurosaki leaned on the desktop, his chin propped in his broad hand, "perhaps," he said with a mysterious smile, "but I'm willing to bet on one of Ayako's friends being a user of Kaunaz."

"Ah…" Rukia allowed her face to take on a look of slight awe; _of course she'd known all that already. HQ had the details on every single witch in Hecate's Coven, including that of the renegade daughter of one of Solomon's financiers, Rin Tsubokura. It was simply SCG-J's luck that they were needed in bringing down a potential threat to HQ's dream becoming a reality…_

The phone rang, somewhere else in the office it was answered. Kurosaki quietly read on and Rukia, having abandoned her old research, checked her short nails in imitation of one of their _missing_ hunters. "No! That can't be—I'm sorry—we didn't—no, _of course not_!!!" Hitsugaya snarled, outraged. Kurosaki lowered the papers from his face, peering over the top.

"Goodbye!!!" The Chief stalked in after slamming the phone down on its cradle. "Who was it?" the lead hunter asked, feigning interest in his perusals. Hitsugaya threw him dagger looks; Hanataro cringed lower in his seat, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

"All right! I want to know who informed the Police of the changes made to the autopsy report! That was—" he breathed in, "Tosen calling to let me know—SCG has no right—moral or influence—over the honest work done by honest citizens to protect the populace from mass murderers—"

Rukia muted him, ignoring his tirade. _So they'd received it already. HQ's plans were working out so far to satisfaction._

~~~*~~~

Many street blocks away, in a small economic apartment, a black cat stretched. Sleek jet muscles rippled, tendons snapped, joints elongated into elegant hands and legs. Her transformation complete, a nude woman padded barefoot to the closed front window. She parted the regulation navy drapes to peer yellow-green eyed out into the gathering sunset.

A sigh, heavy, unheard but for her own ears; _there was work to be done_.

~~~*~~~

Grimmjow was caught at severe unawares. The woman pounced on him the moment he had walked in and latched the door, the chain bolt still rattling as he hit the carpeting. His head reeling, he glimpsed a pair of feet belonging to a mocha-skinned woman wearing his clothes. "Get up!" she nudged him bossily in the stomach. Grimmjow rolled into a crouching position, pulling his service weapon out and flicking the safety off.

"I am a Police officer, put your hands above—"

She laughed, her loose, rippling violet hair caressing the shoulders of the oversize T-shirt hanging in folds on her lean frame. "Think you can order me around and well—you've got another thing coming!" The woman moved so fast, he didn't her coming until his gun flew from his hand, skating across the room to land beneath the sofa's end table.

_What was she—a crazed martial artist—robber_?!

"Now Grimmy, I expect you to cooperate." The woman leaned back on her haunches, smiling a toothy grin that for some odd reason reminded him of the Cheshire cat. "C-cooperate in what?" he kept his stuttering to a minimum, his teal eyes darting to where his gun lay—a good six feet away, the entire length of the room. _Who the fuck was she_?

"You're friendly with the SCG hunters, aren't you?" she asked suddenly, her unnaturally bright eyes on him. "Yeah," Grimmjow answered hesitantly, wondering if this was Kurosaki's idea of a joke-_if it was then he'd die_.

"I want to know…has a new hunter arrived by the name of Kuchiki Rukia?"

Startled, his expression said it all. The woman nodded slowly, "I see then. _He_ sent her after all." Since Grimmjow had no idea who this '_he_' was, somebody connected with the little petite ice wielder obviously, but how…? "You're from Solomon," the thought occurred to him and he spoke it aloud. For a genuine moment, the woman looked rather surprised, then recovered, her grin widening, "was. Am. However you'd prefer to think—personally I don't give a damn. I'm here to watch over somebody—and you're going to have to help me."

"And—if I refuse?"

"I'll kill you right now and climb into the black SUV waiting in the back parking lot."

Seeing the terror written clearly in his expression, she chuckled shortly, "Heh. Just kidding! –About the killing you part. I need someone to act as my go-between, tell me everything of what little Rukia does. I will meet her soon…but now's not the time."

"So…you're just going to use me?" Grimmjow watched warily as the woman rose and paced away to the sofa, sitting in the last corner and folding her legs upward allowing him a glimpse of familiar black boxer shorts; _she'd even stolen his underwear_! "Yes. Does that bother you?" she demanded, her fine jaw line set in defiance. "N-no," he answered hastily, climbing to his feet.

"Good. Yoruichi."

"Huh?"

"My name is Yoruichi. That's all you need to know, Mr. Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. Oh—get me some fresh milk if you're going out—the carton you have is spoiled!" Yoruichi made it sound as if having soured milk was a crime. Grimmjow stared at her, his left eye twitching. She snickered, waving him away, "don't even think about turning me in either. I can have you slashed to bits by Uruz before you could even make the call—or if you preferred—burnt to an ashen mass with Kaunaz. It's your choice."

"Non-fat?" he went immediately for the door.

Yoruichi settled more comfortably against the plushy cushions, looking for the entire world like an exotic queen and Grimmjow—_her servant_. "Whole…and," her eyes flashed mischievously, "organic!"

As he left, grumbling to himself, he considered the undeniable fact that ever since he'd joined in on the SCG hunt involving the murderous ghost—bad things had happened quite frequently to him. _Maybe this was a sign he wasn't meant to be an honorary witch hunter…_

~~~*~~~

"—I can't believe the—oh, Mr. Aizen!" Hitsugaya turned around at the sound of footsteps exiting the meeting area. Rukia snapped out of her reverie in time to see the SCG administrator exchange a glance with Kurosaki, the latter almost imperceptibly indicating _no_. Nobody had noticed that, no one but her. She lowered her hand, laying it casually on the desk's top, assuming a pose of idle boredom.

A chair creaked somewhere in the room and Renji spoke, he'd been conversing in quiet tones with someone on the mainline. Replacing the receiver back on the cradle, he turned glum eyes to the rest of them, "bad news. Rangiku says they're both to participate in a wild hunt, four days from now. Also she thinks not to arouse suspicion, neither should come in for a few days just to clear the air."

"Makes sense," Hitsugaya agreed. Rukia felt the administrator's eyes on her and she attempted to smile. "I don't believe we've formally met," Aizen exclaimed in mild tones. Knowing this to be an implicit gesture of derision on his part, she decided to play along with it. "Rukia Kuchiki, sir," she said, going over to stand before the tall man. He appraised her with a fatherly look, "Sosuke Aizen, but you must've known already! HQ keeps close watch on all their employees."

Kurosaki's stare was boring into her back; reluctantly she grasped the hand Aizen held out to her. "It's nice meeting you, sir," Rukia tried to match her tone to her words, but thinking she'd failed dismally, smiled widely as cover up. "I've heard much on your genetic expertise in the field of witch genes and how many have tried to duplicate the passage of the craft," she couldn't resist adding.

"Indeed. Then Solomon honors me by taking such an interest in this particular hobby of mine," Aizen answered sedately, his face betraying nothing. "Hobby, sir?" she questioned politely, aware all the time of the other people in the room. "Yes, hobby. It's a sort of obsession to under—" he paused as the phone rang and Hanataro was the quickest to answer it.

"Something else? No—we know. Kurosaki? He's here—you don't—I see. Sure—I'll tell her—urgent you say? No, she doesn't. Fine. B—" the boy flinched when the line clicked off abruptly, swiveling around, he delivered the message, "that was the coroner. Said he's found something in the medical records pertaining to Ms. Matsumura's deceased sister that we should know about."

"Does he know about the Police finding out?" Kurosaki asked frowningly. Hanataro shrugged, "yeah. He didn't seem to care particularly. Just that he wants—"

"I'll go," Kurosaki interrupted.

"N-no. You can't. He asked for Ms. Rukia especially," Hanataro looked to her, as did Hitsugaya slightly accusingly. Renji whistled, "wonder what Grimm would think of his competition?" He snickered behind his hand, then, immediately sobered, catching a frosty glare from cold brown eyes.

"Kuchiki isn't a full hunter yet. It would be unwise for us to allow her—"

"Ichigo," Aizen smoothly interceded, "Rukia was sent to us as a certified hunter from Solomon HQ. She is more than qualified to handle a bit of info passing onto us. Besides that, I can drop her off at the coroner's office—I'm on my way to the Police department to have a word with Tosen."

"Mr. Aizen, let me go. It was—" Hitsugaya began with the deepest remorse inflecting his tone. Rukia saw Kurosaki's jaw tighten, his eyes narrowing in response to the ordered stand down by his superior. _He hadn't expected her to be defended by the very man he was employed to_. Seemingly blissfully unaware of the tensions rising in the room, Aizen smiled gently, "there's no need, Toshiro. I already called ahead to warn him that I'd be stopping by."

"But I—"

"Let it go, 'Shiro," Kurosaki muttered, earning him a daggers look. "It's not your fault," Rukia chimed in sympathetically, _indeed knowing it wasn't_. Renji hobbled over to the shorter man, smacking the small shoulder in a friendly gesture, "ah, cheer up, 'Shiro! You need to—"

"I thought I told you not to call me that!" Hitsugaya snarled, shoving the hand from his shoulder angrily. Pretending wounded pride, Renji knitted his red brows together in a scowling pout, "waagh! Meanie Hitsugaya—"

"Shut up!" the Chief stalked back to his lair behind the screens; though, he was heard muttering, _juvenile mentality, and fool_. Kurosaki watched him disappear then leaned back in his chair, "idiot," the lead hunter commented to Renji whom merely feigned innocence. Aizen jiggled his keys meaningfully, "shall we go, Rukia?"

~~~*~~~

Alone with the man wasn't something particularly desirable that she wished for, Aizen's handling of SCG had been satisfactory to some, while others in the field complained of his laxity in punishing witches whom had otherwise broken Solomon's laws. Father Kuchiki was one, speaking openly about the administrator's obvious difference in mindset in relation to the subjugation of witches and the eradication of certain crafts. It was no surprise then, that Rukia shared her guardian's harsh views.

"Turn left here?" Aizen questioned, they were at a four-way stoplight. His car, a sleek silver Mercedes Benz imported from America, rumbled quietly with the whir of the defroster running. Rukia glanced at the street sign positioned above the intersection, "yeah. It's that way." She expected him to make the turn but contrary to her directions, he went the opposite way.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to take you along on a little drive," he explained cheerfully. Rukia kept her expression stony, keeping only the side of her profile to him as she watched unseeingly as the familiar streets passed them by. "How are your thoughts on Kurosaki?" Aizen sprung the question on her suddenly, observing the petite hunter's reaction.

She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly in response. "He's just a person," she elaborated when Aizen remained quiet. "Just a person or as the Kano family believe—a _cold-hearted murderer_?" His voice was still polite and cautiously curious though Rukia sensed an underlying taunt beneath the man's exterior.

"I've never met Mr. and Mrs. Kano, so I have no idea as to their feelings on Kurosaki."

"Really now? Hana Kano has a position as a field-training officer in the Solomon academy. I'd have thought that a graduate such as you would've had plenty of contact with Mrs. Kano over the years," Aizen theorized. Stopping at an intersection light again, he slid his gaze over to her, the look in them snide, probing as if he could see straight through her into her mind.

"Let me off," she said quietly, snapping the buckle on her seatbelt. "Whatever are you talking about, my dear? The corner's office is—" Aizen then lost his worried look. Rukia paused, her hand on the elongated plastic pull; _to run away now would be an admission to her guilt_. _And he knew that_.

With forced remorse, she slid back into the seat, her belt snapping back into place, "forgive me for being rude, sir. But—please. Mrs. Kano is a kind woman—I wouldn't have said so…but I grieve terribly for her loss. Whether Kurosaki was involved directly or not."

Aizen seemed a little disappointed, "I see. Then I understand. Senna was a member of our team for two years—we were all deeply affected by her untimely demise."

The man could've been an actor with the way his emotions changed from night to day, malicious to _almost_ kindly. He stayed silent for the rest of the ride to the coroner's office, pensive about the death of Senna. _Had he really mourned her as he said?_ Frustratingly, Rukia couldn't tell. She received one last gentle smile from the man before he drove off away from the cement curb outside of the squat building. She breathed in tiredly and began walking up to the door.

~~~*~~~

Ulquiorra let her in promptly; his bright green eyes surveyed the knotted expression on her face all at once realizing something was off. "Did something happen?" he questioned quietly on their way to the morgue. Rukia rubbed her cheeks, guessing they must be horridly pale, "not really. Just…stressed."

"If you're so stressed then…how about dinner on Friday?" he pushed the door open and let her enter first. Violet eyes blinked; _was he asking her out on a date_? Proved by his next sentence, "I merely wished to see you again among other things. I found I could not rid my thoughts of your countenance."

Huh?

"Come again?" she said, feeling suddenly like they were in a cheesy period novel. Ulquiorra let the door swing shut, his eyes fixated on her face. "I meant what I said. Never have I discovered a woman as appealing to me as you." Her mouth felt as if it were stuffed with cotton, "um…thanks I guess. But I—"

"You have no boyfriend," he filled in for her dryly.

"How do you know?"

"I asked when I called the office."

_Hanataro_…she silently stewed.

"Yes, then?"

Rukia stared hard into his somewhat pale, yet delicately handsome face. Lucky. She should consider herself lucky that she didn't repulse this man, as others would've been if they'd known the truth. But all she could think of…_was cold appraising brown eyes, a firm yet sensual mouth that promised pleasure and_…

"I'll have to think about it. Soon," she added, noting the disappointment that flickered through his eyes. After a moment, he shrugged, "I can't force you. There was however a small fact I had discovered about that woman's sister that I thought you should know about. I didn't absolutely lie to your superiors."

"I didn't think you had."

"Thank you. Anyway," he strode over to the metal cart and stacked files on top of it. Rifling through one, Ulquiorra traced his finger down a list of names of surrogate mothers. Despite herself, Rukia drew nearer and read off quietly the one he had stopped on, "Mina Asahi-? Not Ayame Minatsuki?"

"Apparently the couple had a hard time conceiving and hired a young Surrogate to foster Ayako, the elder sister—"

"But you said this was about—"

"I'm getting to it now," Ulquiorra interrupted patiently, "if Ayako was born from an artificially inseminated womb then that would make her…"

"Ayeka's half-sister." Rukia finished for him, then inhaled sharply, realizing the consequences of what he had just imparted to her. The Minatsuki family as a whole bore no strains of any of the twenty-four crafts, neither buried as far as four degrees back, _so where had Ayako's power come from? They had wondered_.

But now the pieces fit together, what HQ knew and the single remaining piece given to her by the unsuspecting coroner. _Yuya Asahi, Coven mother of Hecate's Coven and witch in her own right…was the Grandmother of Ayako Matsumura_.

~~~*~~~

A copse of yew trees? Rangiku stared through the windshield of her car, looking out into dense woodlands; a few other vehicles such as Ayako's blue Volvo were parked along the other side. No one was in sight, snapping her belt buckle off and setting the brakes so it wouldn't roll, she exited the sedan, the sound of the door slamming disturbing the silence.

She stood for a few seconds, stock still, listening for anything. No birds chirped in the closely grown tangle of heavy limbs, the sky a leaden gray all afternoon, foretold of a coming storm that Tokyo weather report had forecasted. Then, a branch crackled underfoot, Rangiku tensed, almost reaching for the holster that was no longer under her cashmere sweater.

Ayako swatted a low hanging branch from her face, appearing next to her, Momo, in dark denim and a pale olive green blouse. "Rangiku! You made it!" the woman cried happily. The Clairvoyant had the gumption to look the littlest bit sheepish, "Yeah. Turns out, the meeting wasn't scheduled until next week. Dumb blond, huh?"

"I wouldn't say that," Ayako said chidingly. Flipping a hand through the damp curls dusting her shoulders; she proceeded to explain the reason of the wild hunt. "Ten women of the Coven compete for the singular honor of mating with our own Ullr."

_Mating?_

"You mean it's a sex rite?" Rangiku's eyebrow rose; usually witches never displayed wanton behavior as described by the Malleus and other basic theories present during the ancient witch hunts. "Oh, I wouldn't say sex rite, per se." Ayako's smile took on a wicked glint. Momo rubbed her hands together, seeming rather chilled from the wind rattling the trees, her cheeks however were a bright red.

"What do you mean, Aya-san?" she asked bravely.

Ayako winked, turning away at the sound of Fuu's voice coming from the left.

"You'll see…" the Magier left with ominous words.

~~~*~~~

The gathered women were to split up in the forest of the yews, their singular goal in being the first one to find a secret hidey-hole where the human male version of Adonis-or-the virile dangerous wild hunter Ullr was to be found. Personally, Rangiku couldn't think of a more retarded reason for wandering around on a dark stormy night then this.

Cursing over a mossy tree root, she climbed to her feet. Jodhpur boots squelching into a hidden mud hollow from earlier rains. Various other sounds as the Coven witches bumbled around in the darker parts of the forest came to her ears. Ayako wasn't participating. Those of high rank merely sat back and watched the proceedings with an air of entertainment. This year's man-or-men as the Magier had let slip to her during the initial rule informing, were especially hot.

Curiously, Rangiku wondered if she knew them. SCG had been told of the night of the wild hunt. Orders from them had been to join in and act normal as if she was even excited about whatever trials they put her through to be a part of the sister sorority. Dismayed, she stumbled again, her thoughts preoccupied with the hunt ahead. Her sweater snagged on a branch, halting her fall. Annoyed, she yanked angrily at it, leaving a large rent in the fabric.

_I'll just get a new one—huh? Incense_?

A sharply sweet smell wafted on a light breeze, following it carefully, Rangiku rounded the offending tree and its roots to come upon a tiny clearing hidden by foliage. Fuu, clothed in a loose fitting white robe without hood, held a censer of incense. A smile welcomed the hunter, and a beckoning indicated that she wasn't the only one to find the place.

Momo stepped out from under a low overhanging limb, dried leaves crackled in her dark hair as she surveyed the tiny area lit by torchlight with mounting trepidation. "Welcome, girls." Fuu said solemnly, "You have found this sacred place of holy magic. Please step closer and choose a door," she waved a pudgy hand to beaded doorways, Rangiku hadn't noticed before, "and partake of the wild hunters' seed."

_That didn't sound too pleasant_.

Momo went a few steps nearer; her eyes large and frightened like a doe's. Rangiku smiled sympathetically, joining her before the set of doors. "Beyond here, right?" she questioned, meaning hers of a thick crimson sewn with ruby red glass tubes. Fuu nodded. Rangiku took a deep breath, trying to appear excited about the ravishing she was supposed to receive; _a certificate to an expensive spa would've been more appealing_.

Patting Momo once on the back, Rangiku entered hers, letting the door hiss softly closed behind her. The room she came into was low ceilinged with the crimson canopy above proving it was a tent, the floor was earthen colored but was actually an oversized rug, her heels padded with little noise to the center. Looking around, she didn't see any virile wild hunter; her mouth drawing up into a frown; _if this was a joke…_

Suddenly her eyes, growing accustomed to the weak light noticed a creeping shadow coming up to her from the left. Rangiku clenched her fist, jabbing backward at the appropriate time. Her elbow slammed into a bare chest, reaching behind for the offending wrist, she flipped him over her shoulder easily. A man crashed heavily onto the carpeting, his fire engine red hair sticking out frizzily despite the concealing facemask placed on him to hide his identity.

But Rangiku would know him anywhere.

_Renji!!!_

She didn't dare yell out, but her furious face when he looked up sheepishly said it all; _Kurosaki had undoubtedly conned him into it_. Before she could punch him anymore, a scream erupted from the other side of the fabric wall. Rangiku pivoted around to rush to Momo's aid.

_Who knows…it could've been Kurosaki himself harassing her_.

A firm hand wrapped around her ankle, glancing down, she saw him mouth, _no._

_Why not_? She glared.

_Grimmjow_, Renji jerked his thumb at the muffled sounds of a struggle. Rangiku looked unconvinced, but sat down obediently on the bed placed near the back wall. _As if Kurosaki would have gone himself to do the dirty work_…

~~~To be continued in Witch CH.12~~~

9-7-2009

AN: Combining and adding a little really did make it long, phew! :) Anyway here's a little of a real-life incident that happened to me earlier: "In the name of the Father, the Son and…" I hesitated on my recital, "and the evil spirit—wait! I mean Holy Spirit! Dammit!" And so that's what comes of thinking of Manga while studying something-namely manga like Fushigi Yugi! Well that said and done, thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated. :)


	12. Chapter 12 Coven pt2

Twenty witches. Rukia glanced over the list of names Rangiku had procured for them. And all of them were well-known in society or at least their families were_. How could the seeds have been sown so far?_ she wondered to herself, her body jostling abruptly as Kurosaki hit a speed bump.

"Sorry," he said, not looking her way.

In the backseat, Hitsugaya grumbled under his breath.

Dividing the team in such a way, hadn't met with his approval. For one thing, Jeagerjaques was still new at this to be sent in undercover; Abarai was a known idiot who had messed up many other times during hunts. Kurosaki had hmmed at this, but a faint smirk had played along his lips when his gaze rose from Hanataro's schematic of the forest area.

_"And what do you propose we do to compensate for our lack of hunters?"_

Hitsugaya had been silenced momentarily by this look and brooded for a time. _He knew he was being played_. "I'll go with you.." his voice sounded tight, strained at the smug air emanating from the lead hunter. "On tonight's hunt."

And that was how the three of them had ended up together in the black BMW snaking up the curvy road to the area up in the mountains where the witches had gathered.

The silence was heavy. Rukia had for a time watched the scenery go past, her face deliberately turned aside from the driver. Every once in a while the click and hammer sliding against the coiled spring sounded from the back. In his day, Hitsugaya had been considered one of the best, but time and the diminishment of his craft had rendered a lesser position in the SCG necessary.

_The spoken word_...she recalled his words from before and guessed the reason for his anger. Hitsugaya knew Kurosaki had done it on purpose, all to get him back on the field. _But what was his intent?_ She couldn't begin to fathom it. Kurosaki's motives, as well as his mind were a mystery to her.

_But then_.. catching a glimpse of herself in the darkened rearview mirror; her puckered brow and pouting lips. She had to remind herself that she wasn't there to get close to anybody. If anything it was to make it easier to complete her mission. _Byakuya and..Kaien were counting on her_.

~*~

"Here..." Renji whispered, withdrawing from a bag stashed in the corner, a familiar item. Rangiku lifted her orbo gun, finger curling around the safety. With a wince, she gently released it, a soft click sounding. He did the same, slipping a navy T-shirt over his head then fitting together the leather thongs to the single shoulder holster.

Noticing her looking; he jerked his head to the door covering. Rangiku nodded, that she understood even though sparing another glance to her shoes. _She regretted wearing heels now_. Kurosaki had intimated that he had something planned, yet she hadn't expected it to be this. _What was he thinking, preparing to storm into the darkness with only Rukia and himself?! Sure, she and Renji could provide cover being on the inside like this, although that would mean_--her thoughts were momentarily halted. The beaded hanging swinging in suddenly.

Renji froze, his gun still in mid-air, the safety still on.

The doughy face of Fuu appeared, asking gently if anything was the matter. Perhaps in question of why there was no love-making sounds from the room.

Rangiku felt a dull flush creep into her cheeks; _the nerve! Her partner was the last man on earth she would consider sleeping with-Kurosaki was a close second_. But then they didn't know that.

She did feel a fleeting sense of guilt a moment later.

But their cover couldn't be blown so soon.

The sound of the gunshot still resounded in the air. Fuu collapsed in the doorway, the glass bullet entering her body on the left side between the ribs. Rangiku lowered her gun, the muzzle still smoking. Renji whistled low, "nice shot."

Scuffling sounds came from the other side of the fabric wall, a ripping noise followed. Grimmjow and Momo, their guns held at the ready, appeared. "Shit," Grimmjow swore, catching sight of Fuu's inert body. "Are you two alright?" Momo asked, concern in her voice as she gingerly stepped forward.

Renji shrugged, grinning slightly, "as well as--"

"Not good...not good." Grimmjow was still mumbling, his hands tugging at his teal-locks. Rangiku looked to him, rising slowly off the bed, "what is it?" she had a suspicion, but was afraid to voice it. Momo's expression as well, looked grim.

"Kurosaki.." Grimmjow began, his head turning toward the beaded door that hung slightly off kilter do to the hindrance of the body keeping it from closing. Beyond, the sound of footsteps and the crunching of fallen foliage broke the quiet of the evening.

"They're still about twenty minutes away."

~*~

Kurosaki calmly switched off the cell.

"Isn't talking while driving, banned?" Hitsugaya's voice heavy with disapproval, asked.

Rukia glanced quickly to see how he handled such a comment; but found his expression inscrutable. Just a faint smirk played on his lips. A moment later, she realized she had been staring, as his head had begun turning her way.

Kurosaki observed her for some seconds. She could feel his gaze on her profile, but refused to meet it; instinctively resting her chin in her cupped palm, her face toward the darkness lurking outside the lit interior.

"Put the radio on or something!" Hitsugaya's grumpy demand broke through the tension that was slowly building. Smiling unpleasantly now, Kurosaki punched in the first button on the side of the steering wheel. Almost instantaneously the player came on, the lights whirring to life on the front dashboard. A song began playing.

".. Hontou ni taisetsu na mono igai subete sutete/shimaetara ii no ni ne/genjitsu wa tada zankoku de..."

"Wow, Kurosaki," Hitsugaya's voice floated again to the front, "I didn't know you liked this kind of music."

"Oh?" Rukia watched his hands tighten slightly around the steering wheel, "and just what kind of music did you think I liked?"

Uncomfortably she was aware of his glance to her. The gentle strains of the song continued playing around them. " Sonna toki itsu datte/me o tojireba/waratteru kimi ga iru.."

She knew what the lyrics meant. There was a frown in the chief's tone, "I don't know. Maybe rock like Gackt or High and Mighty Colors." Kurosaki said nothing, but his grip relaxed on the steering wheel. "No, I'm not too fond of Screamo. Never have been." Deliberately she felt his gaze slide to her face again. "What about you, Kuchiki?"

Aware. Oh, so painfully aware of her heart increasing its beat due to his look. Rukia answered with as bland a tone as she could muster. Not wanting to seem out of breath. "Enka. Ballad type. Nothing modern much for me either."

"I see..." his smile never wavered, rather grew slightly on the edge of a sneer.

" Aisubeki mono no tame/ai o kureru mono no tame dekiru koto.."

"Then what do you think of this song?" He pressed the volume higher until the singer's voice filled the car. Rukia bit the inside of her mouth, his eyes were fully on her now. "I g-guess it's alright."

"Deatta ano koro wa/subete ga bukiyou de/toomawari shita yo ne/kizutsuke atta yo ne!"

For some reason she found herself unable to resist meeting his gaze. _Back then, when we met,  
it was all awkward_. He wasn't watching the road. "Kuchiki, that's not what I--" he began softly.

"KUROSAKI!!!! WATCH OU--" Hitsugaya's yell brought him back, slamming on the brakes, the car skid. Rukia grasped her seatbelt, her wide eyes taking in the sight of what had caused Hitsugaya's warning.

A wolf-_no_--

A witch.

Ayako Matsumura stood in place of the creature.

The car struck the guardrail on his side.

The impact jarred her spine and made her head spin. A moment later she realized he must've stepped on the gas pedal by accident for the next second, the sound of screeching metal tore through the air and she flew forward, the seatbelt cruelly yanking on her body. Her head collided with the dashboard and she saw blackness.

Her last conscious thought was whether or not Kurosaki was still alive.

~To be continued~

AN: sorry for the wait. :) I hope to conclude this arc next time :)

Thanks for reading

No flames-haters-stupid comments!

Reviews appreciated! :)

Lyrics: Dearest-Ayumi Hamasaki

hontou ni taisetsu na mono igai subete sutete  
shimaetara ii no ni ne  
genjitsu wa tada zankoku de

sonna toki itsu datte  
me o tojireba  
waratteru kimi ga iru

itsuka eien no nemuri ni tsuku hi made  
dou ka sono egao ga  
taema naku aru you ni

hito wa minna kanashii kara  
wasurete yuku ikimono dakedo

aisubeki mono no tame  
ai o kureru mono no tame dekiru koto

deatta ano koro wa  
subete ga bukiyou de  
toomawari shita yo ne  
kizutsuke atta yo ne

itsuka eien no nemuri ni tsuku hi made  
dou ka sono egao ga  
taema naku aru you ni

deatta ano koro wa  
subete ga bukiyou de  
toomawari shita yo ne  
tadoritsuitan da ne

---------------------------

It would be nice if we could put away and throw out  
everything except what really mattered, but  
reality is just cruel.

In such times,  
I see you laughing  
whenever I close my eyes.

Until the day I reach eternal sleep,  
that smiling face will  
have to stay with me without fail.

People are all sad, so  
they go and forget, but--

For that which I should love,  
For that which gives me love, I will do what I can.

Back then, when we met,  
it was all awkward.  
We went the long way, didn't we?  
We got hurt, didn't we?

Until the day I reach eternal sleep,  
that smiling face will  
have to stay with me without fail.

Back then, when we met,  
it was all awkward.  
We went the long way, didn't we?  
We got there in the end.


End file.
